


Knights of Caledfwlch

by Incandescentflower



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Angst, Another Greywaren, Car Chase, Car Sex, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas at the Barns, College Student Adam Parrish, F/M, Female Greywaren, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Irish Folk Song Singing, Ley line magic, M/M, Making Out, Post-The Raven King, Reciting Greek love poetry, Remembering Noah, Ronan Lynch idolizes Adam Parrish's hands, Some Plot, Victorian hand porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-08-13 05:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 90,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7964665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incandescentflower/pseuds/Incandescentflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam and Ronan adjust to their new relationship and prepare for Adam to go off to college with a lot of adoring thoughts and making out. Also, some magic stuff happens. Gansey asks Adam to find out about the Knights of Caledfwlch and they run into other magic seekers. Adam and Ronan deal with the long distance thing and Adam comes to terms with his own magical abilities. This fic will cover Adam and Ronan's lives for Adam's first year at college.</p><p>Or an extra long fic that expands on the magical world of TRC with lots of Pynch fluff.</p><p>If you are just interested in Christmas Fluff (aren't we all??) I think you can just read Chapter 9 & 10 as a stand alone. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is longish. It will likely be around 20 chapters. My goal is to post one each week.
> 
> I'm [Incandescentflower](http://www.incandescentflower.tumblr.com) on Tumblr if you want to find me. 
> 
> Thanks to [wildflowersoul](http://archiveofourown.org/users/wildflowersoul/pseuds/wildflowersoul) and [Tenillypo](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenillypo/pseuds/Tenillypo) for betaing their hearts out on this one. They have been extremely supportive in indulging my need to spend some more time with these characters and continue to give hours of their time to editing this.
> 
> This is my first fic, so bear with me. 
> 
> Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, even poor imitation. Most characters belong to Maggie Stiefvater.

Adam couldn’t believe he had everything he’d ever wanted. He'd left the trailer park behind. He'd be graduating from Aglionby with honors in a few short months and attending a prestigious school in the fall. He'd done all these things on his own. And now, he was lying in bed with Ronan at his side. _Ronan._ His heartbeat still hitched at the thought of it.

The hotel room alarm clock read 7:00 am. It was the second day of his college tour. The sun light from the day was already starting to peek through the vinyl curtains, casting a glow over Ronan’s sleeping face. Adam grabbed a small, well-worn notebook from the bedside table and slid out of bed as quietly as possible. The room smelled musty from yesterday’s April rainstorm. Driving through New England in a downpour hadn't been ideal, but they had to get back to Virginia in time for school on Monday.

Waking up next Ronan was a frequent occurrence these days, but still Adam’s obligations at Aglionby kept him away from the Barns more often than he’d like. If Adam was gone more than a few nights, Ronan’s scowl was twice as fierce and doors slammed twice as hard.

Practically every night Adam was there, Ronan would shake in his sleep, whispering “Mom?” in that same child-like voice Adam had heard months ago. These weren’t Ronan’s typical dreams; they were cruel nightmares.

Each time, Adam held him, shaking his shoulders and softly slapping his face—trying to get Ronan to wake up, to come back to him. Eventually Ronan's eyes always flickered open, staring blankly as if he was recovering from his post dream paralysis, and Adam always let out an audible sigh as he realized Ronan did not, in fact, bring any of the horror back with him. _This time._

Adam would wait, holding his breath, as Ronan’s eyes shifted their focus to him, pain from that day making them dark pools of black. “Adam,” Ronan would whisper, his voice like a vice grip on his heart, followed by the familiar sour feeling in Adam’s stomach.

Adam would do his best to calm Ronan with soft whispers and soothing touches. If that didn’t work, he'd pull Ronan’s head into his lap and run his fingers along the frown lines on his forehead, drawing circles in his soft shaved hair until Ronan’s eyes fluttered and fell back to sleep. Adam suspected that when he wasn’t there, Ronan just didn’t sleep at all.  

But now he was sleeping soundly, at least. Adam sat down at the small table at the side of the room and started flipping through the pages of the book. Writing in it was a habit that was likely influenced, at least in part, by Gansey. Every page was a piece to the puzzle that was his future: to do lists, homework assignments, research on colleges, research on ley lines and Glendower, rehearsed arguments for school debates, even what Adam had planned to say at his court hearing with his father - anything important that he couldn’t keep in his head.

He paused on one of his old homework lists. Ronan’s handwriting scrawled “Parrish’s Super Nerd List” in the margins. _What a pain in the ass,_ Adam thought as he glanced over at his peaceful visage. He continued to flip through the notebook, the pages heavy with the weight of the decision he was trying to make. Finally, he found the college pro and con list he'd made. Adam had been accepted to a number of highly ranked schools. He didn’t get into his first choice, Harvard, but he was waitlisted and still, that felt pretty good. Gansey’s father had offered to put in a call for him; Adam was getting better at accepting help, but he just couldn’t let him do that. More than anything, he wanted to get into an elite college on his own merit. Why else had he been killing himself all these years? But he still had choices: Amherst, Brandeis, Middlebury, Bates, Colby. All respectable. Most were considered “Little Ivies.” So he wasn't too disappointed.

He had only looked at schools in New England. He had wanted to get lost, to lose every loathsome part of himself, his Henrietta dust and dirt, and it seemed like a good place to do it, far away from everything familiar. But when it came time to apply, that force propelling him deep in his gut had started to lull. He had considered applying to one school in Virginia to allow himself that possibility, but he knew that if he did, he might not go.

Adam looked across the room and found Ronan’s laptop. Sometimes it still amused him to see a creature like Ronan using it. He treated it with the same abhorrence he did his cell phone. Adam grabbed it and typed out a message. _Hey, are you up? - A_

Almost instantly Ronan’s cell phone rang. “No one else gets up as early as us, “ Blue said. Her voice was warm and happy, sounding as though she had been up for hours. “How’s the trip going?”

Adam said, “Fine,” in a hushed tone, and quickly got to his feet to scurry to the bathroom. Once the door was closed he said in his normal tone, “We’re in Massachusetts right now and heading to Maine today. Anything new in Henrietta?”

“Adam,” Blue sounded exasperated. “You’ve only been gone a few days!” It was true that they had only left three days ago, but this was the first time Adam had ever been this far from Virginia and it was a weird sensation to know life was going on there without him. “Gansey has spent the week with his parents. He still feels like he has to make up for letting them all down, back when... you know.” _He died._ Her voice got a bit quieter. “Mom and I have been getting ready for St. Mark’s Eve again. We’ll be going to the church tonight.”

Adam’s lips tightened. “Do me a favor, don’t let your mom see any of us this year.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell you if I do!” Blue laughed awkwardly, her tone strained. They had fulfilled Blue’s prophecy and Gansey had sacrificed himself. They both knew it was unlikely that any of them would be on the list this year, but still, it didn’t feel like it was all over. The women of 300 Fox Way were still making predictions, the ley line was still active. Something more was still out there.

Blue seemed to pick up on Adam’s change in mood, tactfully changing the subject. “Did you call just to check in at 7 _in the morning_ or is something up?”

Blue knew Adam pretty well. “I’m trying to figure which of these schools to choose,” Adam admitted. “There are three that gave me just about the same amount of financial aid.” Blue made a noise of agreement. She understood that for people without money, it was always the deciding factor.  

“We looked at Amherst yesterday and it seems like it should be the one. It’s ranked the best in pretty much every category there is.” He glanced down at his notes - _Amherst, highest rank U.S. News and World Report, ranked highest return on investment Forbes, closest to Ronan._ And there it was, notated on the page, despite Adam’s promises to himself that this wasn’t going to be a factor.

“Sounds like good logic.” Blue said slowly. “What does Ronan think?”

Adam let out an audible sigh. In his best sneer, he said, “You don’t need college, Parrish. You're already smart as fuck.”

“Ah, so you haven’t asked him then,” Blue observed, sounding like she was stifling a laugh. “Look, he went on the trip with you. I’m sure he wants to support you. Don’t you still have to see the other schools?”

“Yeah, we're going to Colby and Bates today.”

“Then wait and see. Check them out and take it all in. Turn that big brain of yours off for a few minutes and try to figure out which one feels right.”

Always such a pragmatist. He'd known she wouldn’t try to make the decision for him. It just wasn’t what Blue did. But it still made him feel better to pull out some of the thoughts swirling in his head. “Thanks, Blue.”

“And talk to Ronan!” she insisted. “See you both in a few days!”

Blue was right. Only he and Ronan could go on a college road trip and not actually talk about him _going_ to college. But if he actually talked with Ronan about it, he'd have to face his leaving head on. Adam wasn’t sure if Ronan was ready to discuss what would happen to them after he left, but he was definitely sure _he_ wasn’t.

He didn't miss Blue’s subtle hint either. The women of 300 Fox Way had been trying to get Adam to regain his connection to the ley line for the last few months. They invited him to a reading and even had Blue there to make everything louder, but he hadn’t felt anything at all since Cabeswater sacrificed itself for Gansey. Maura kept encouraging him to focus and open himself up to feeling his sixth sense, but all Adam could think about was Ronan gasping for breath, Adam's hands around his throat. He could never allow anything like that to happen again.

***********

They drove up north to Waterville to visit Colby first, then back down to Bates. To Adam, there didn’t appear to be much difference between the three schools besides location. All ivy covered buildings, happy, chatty co-eds, serious class discussions, inspiring sports teams. Aglionby on steroids.

At the end of the Bates tour, Ronan shoved Adam with his shoulder. “I’ve gotta piss.”

Adam pointed to the Commons across the quad to indicate the nearest bathroom, then gestured to a particularly interesting looking oak tree. “I’ll wait here.”  

It was a sunny spring day and the shade looked inviting. He pulled out his notebook: _large outing club, strong squash team._ His mouth quirked, thinking of how Ronan would appreciate that. _Squash one, squash two_ would likely show up on this page in the next few days.

Adam sighed and put the book down on the ground. He spread his hands through the grass, letting his fingers feel the tickle of each individual blade, cold and slightly wet. The campus was mostly empty since the students were on break, but Adam noticed a few people shuffling slowly across the quad out of the corner of his eye.

A strange feeling of deja vu washed over him. Why did this seem so familiar? Had he somehow been here before? A flash crossed his mind of looking up to the sky under this tree, the leaves a brilliant red, a sharp “Kerah!” ringing in his good ear. _Chainsaw?_ But Adam looked around and no birds were anywhere in sight. Chainsaw was most definitely not there. She was back with Matthew and Opal in D.C. But somehow he remembered her here, he was sure of it.

“Taking a fucking nap, Parrish?” Ronan asked, softly kicking Adam’s shoe.

He blinked up at Ronan, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “Wanna join me?” he asked playfully, stretching out his other hand.

Ronan smiled slyly, letting Adam pull him to the ground. Rather than let go of his hand as he sat beside him, Ronan gently turned it palm up and started tracing each line with this index finger. An electric spark ran through Adam. He didn’t think he would ever get used to Ronan’s touch. He didn’t want to.

Ronan raised an eyebrow as Adam shivered. “I think it might be time that we find that hotel.”

Adam’s ears felt hot as Ronan let out a relaxed laugh that seemed to come from deep down inside him. Adam loved that laugh. It was the way Ronan had laughed as he teased him the night they first kissed, wrapped in each other’s arms. It was the kind of laugh that only came when all your cares are far from your mind. Adam hadn’t heard it much in the last few months, but every now and then it came back, and it surprised him every time.

Being away from Henrietta appeared to be lifting some of the grief from Ronan. He was able to be that fun-loving boy for a little while, the one who took great pleasure in making fun of Adam to the point of embarrassment. Adam used his free hand to shove Ronan’s shoulder. This just increased the devilish grin on his face as he pulled Adam’s fingers to his lips.

Adam smiled back. “Asshole.”

Their hotel was only a few miles down the road. Once they were in the BMW, Adam's mind drifted back to Blue's advice. “What did you think about the schools?” he asked, turning his head toward Ronan so he was able to hear him with his good ear.

“The fuck do I know about colleges?” Ronan said plainly. Adam gave him a pointed look. Ronan shrugged and said, “I liked Bates’ radio station.” _Guess Ronan doesn’t want to think about it either,_ Adam thought.

“Bates felt so familiar. I had a few moments of deja vu. Does that ever happen to you?”

Ronan nodded. “Sure, it happens to me a lot. I dream things and sometimes similar situations happen.”

Adam paused, thinking about this for a moment, “So you can dream _the future_?” Ronan really was a God. How could Adam even hope to keep him when he was now just plain old Adam?

Ronan shrugged again, “I don’t think it's necessarily the future. I think it's just all part of the whole ‘time is a circle’ thing or some shit.”

Adam reached out to Ronan’s hand on the steering wheel and pulled it toward him. “Did you dream this?” he said as he flattened his palm and pulled Ronan’s thumb to his lips.

Ronan’s breath hitched. “Maybe.” Now Ronan was the one blushing.

“And what about this?” Adam asked as he took Ronan’s index finger and wrapped his lips around it.

Ronan groaned, “Yes. Where is this fucking hotel already?” Adam laughed, satisfied that his actions had had the intended results.

The next morning Adam woke up with a feeling of stillness and resolve. He couldn’t quite explain it, but he realized he'd made up his mind. He was going to go to Bates. In the back of his mind, something familiar scratched. Something...more.

***********

The day of his graduation, Adam drove back to St. Agnes in the BMW with the windows down. A peace he had never felt before washed over him. This is what it felt like to be free.

He wished Ronan had gone to the ceremony, but he had his reasons. Instead, he'd thrown car keys at Adam, who reflexively caught them.

“Start driving the BMW. You can’t drive that shitbox a million miles to school," Ronan grumbled, not giving Adam an opening to object. "It didn’t cost anyfuckingthing, Parrish. Don’t be a shithead.” He always seemed to know exactly what to say to get Adam to take things from him. It was hard to feel like Ronan’s generosity was out of pity, when he insulted him the entire time.

So Adam kept the keys and tried to focus on the fact that the car was not an actual gift. He would handle Niall Lynch’s car with care and he would give it back to Ronan when the time was right. But the inside of the car felt like Ronan,  the thought of bringing this piece of him to college made Adam feel warm all over.

Adam flipped down the car’s visor to protect his eyes from the setting sun and a ripped slip of notebook paper fell into his lap. In Ronan’s scribbled handwriting it read, _Te Superbio, Asshole._ The edges of his mouth curled into a smile. He wasn’t sure if anyone had ever said that to him before. It was a strange feeling. Once again, Ronan Lynch overwhelmed him.

When he got to St. Agnes, the Hondatoyota was sitting in the parking lot. Adam’s heart jumped into his throat at the sight of it. After the day he had, the only thing he wanted was to see Ronan.

When Adam entered the apartment, Ronan didn’t give him the chance to say hello. He met him at the door, clasped Adam’s face in his hands and pulled him in for a soft, warm kiss.  Adam could feel Ronan's eyelashes fluttering against his face as he pulled him in for an embrace, his breath was steady and warm. This was Ronan exposed.

In a velvet voice he said, “Pack up your shit,” and tossed some boxes at him. Adam opened his mouth, an argument on the tip of his tongue, but Ronan’s wide blue eyes said _please_ , and he found himself nodding and packing. If Adam being at the Barns let him take care of Ronan, he wouldn’t fight about it. Adam was doing his best not to keep score, but it was always easier to take something from Ronan if he felt like he was giving something in return.

***********

Ronan couldn’t believe he had everything he’d ever wanted. He stood outside the Barns watching Opal and Adam playing tag in the fields and looked over the landscape with a sense of awe and wonder. _Home._

Opal was giggling as she ran in figure eights, Adam tripping and wrapping his arms around her when he caught her. A familiar ache started to tighten in Ronan's chest. It reminded him of how he had felt when he was banished from the Barns. So close to everything he loved and yet so far away. Soon all that he loved would no longer be within his reach. _As long as he comes back._ Things would be changing in just a few short weeks. Ronan hadn’t said much to Adam about it. He was certain if he did, it would come out all sharp edges and scowls. He didn’t want to do anything that would make Adam feel bad about his decision. _You have to let him go._

Ronan had always pushed to get what he wanted, but this time, he was trying not to. Well, except for getting Adam to move into the Barns. He would have spent his entire summer in that shitty apartment, working all three shitty jobs if Ronan hadn’t done something. He needed to be here at the Barns so he could see where he belonged. Besides, Adam wouldn’t have let Ronan push him if he didn’t want to be pushed. Adam was a fighter. Ronan just hoped he would fight for him.

Suddenly, Adam was in front of him. Shoulders heaving, trying to catch his breath. He threw his arm around Ronan, his smile as bright as the sun. Despite himself, Ronan couldn’t help but mirror the expression. Adam’s smile was the salve that had been healing Ronan’s deepest wounds. He wondered what he would do without it. “What the hell, Parrish? You run like you’re old as fuck.”

Adam made a face. “Not all of us can be star athletes like you, Lynch. Want to play some tennis?” he asked with a mock swing.  

Ronan rolled his eyes. “I have some better ideas as to how we could get you in shape.” A wicked grin spread across his face. Now it was Adam’s turn to roll his eyes, although the sly smile that followed told Ronan that Adam would likely welcome that challenge.

Later that evening, after putting Opal to bed, Ronan walked quietly down the hallway to his room. His steps were light, hoping to not make the old floorboards creak. Pausing in the doorway, he watched Adam sitting on the bed with that damned notebook. For a moment he recalled their first kiss in that room. The furniture was a bit different, but the lighting was the same, the object of Ronan’s adoration was the same, his desire was the same. Adam’s smooth features and peach lips. Ronan felt invincible once more.

Adam looked up. “Hi.”

His mouth was so inviting. Ronan slowly walked over to the bed and sat next to him. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t help himself. Adam was the most beautiful person he had ever seen and he was going to drink in every moment they had together.

Ronan leaned his head on Adam’s shoulders to get a good look at the pages he was scribbling on. “Do you do everything you put on this list?” he asked quietly.  Adam glanced over at him with an expression that said _What kind of question is that? Of course I do._ Ronan made a noise of agreement and pulled the pen out of Adam’s hands.

“Hey!” Adam exclaimed playfully.

Ronan held off Adam’s flailing arms long enough to scratch out the number one thing on the list and write _Make out with your boyfriend_ instead.

Adam scooped up the pen and read Ronan’s scrawl, letting out a quiet laugh. “Well, if it's on the list...” his voice trailed off.

Ronan took that as a yes, and grabbed Adam’s shirt to pull him into a kiss. Ronan’s body always ached for Adam’s touch, but now it was on fire. He raised his hand to the back of his head and pulled him closer. He wanted to have as much of his body touching Adam’s as possible. Every possible exposed piece of skin touching Adam’s, all sensory receptors in his body feeling Adam.

“Fuck, Adam.” His voice was unsteady.

Ronan wanted Adam to feel everything he was feeling. He wanted to wipe away any feelings of hurt or pain. Ronan was determined to make Adam feel beautiful, feel wanted, feel loved. Neither of them slept that night.

***********

Adam walked into the front door and started peeling off his coveralls. He had just finished his last shift at Boyd’s garage. He quit his other two jobs at the beginning of the summer after moving into the Barns, but he continued working at Boyd’s because it was flexible and paid well. And on nights when he came home with grease on his forehead, smelling like gasoline, Ronan seemed to give him a bit of extra attention.

Adam could hear Matthew and Opal in the living room, loudly whispering secrets as only kids do. Matthew had been visiting for the last two weeks and he and Opal had bonded like siblings. One minute they were bickering and yelling, “Ronan!” hoping he would come and mediate (he never did). The next, they'd be happily playing video games, building blanket forts or chasing one another through the house, laughing hysterically.

“Adam!” Opal exclaimed as she ran up to him and hugged his leg. He gave her a quick pat on the back and kept walking to the living room, Opal still attached. She giggled wildly as he shook her off of him and onto a pile of pillows where she splayed out, exhausted by the effort.

“Matthew.” Adam held out his fist as a greeting. Matthew gleefully bumped his fist, happy to be treated like one of the guys. “Whatcha guys up to?”

“Watchin’ _the Goonies_ ,” Matthew explained and pointed to the TV.

Adam nodded, “Nice! That one’s a classic. Where’s Ronan?”

Opal was too busy chewing on the TV remote to acknowledge the question and Matthew just shrugged.

Adam maneuvered himself around the boxes stacked in the hallway to check the sitting room. He was leaving for college tomorrow and everything was packed and ready to go. Despite the fact that he had accomplished so much in the last few months, he could still fit his entire life in a few small containers.

He couldn’t believe he was finally leaving. He knew he'd made the right decision, but he still had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

It reminded him of a science experiment he'd done in middle school. Each student had two magnets and they were instructed to put the positive ends together. No matter how hard Adam tried, the magnetic force pushed them apart. But when he flipped one of the magnets, they crashed together, practically impossible to separate.

Adam was that magnet. He’d been feeling pushed away from Henrietta, from his family, from everything he had ever known for so very long that he hadn’t even noticed the flip. Now, he didn’t want to leave. Every part of his being screamed stay, stay, stay. But Adam was still Adam, which meant that his mind always won out over his emotions. He had set his mind to go away to college and that’s what he’d do. It was only four years. _And then I can come back._

When Adam leaned into the sitting room, all that was there was piles of papers and books on the desk, most of which had been there since it had belonged to Niall Lynch. Adam wasn’t sure if Ronan would ever be able to throw out anything that had belonged to his parents, even stacks of useless papers.  

He walked back toward the living room. Through the hallway window, he could see the glow of the light from backyard and a shadow of Ronan, who appeared to be doing some sort of work out there.

Adam shuffled past the latest argument between Opal and Matthew to the backdoor. He paused on the porch when he saw Ronan about a hundred yards away, cutting and stacking firewood. The light from the porch reflected on the sweat dripping off of him, his muscles flexing and twisting with the repetitive motion. He was a beautiful creature. And Adam was leaving him.  

“Hey there, sexy lumberjack,” Adam joked as he approached.

Ronan glanced up and said, “Hi,” but kept working.

Adam was hoping for a smile or an eyeroll or _something_. But in the last few weeks, Ronan had grown even more laconic than usual. It wasn’t even that he’d become angry Ronan again. That, Adam could take. Instead, he’d become quiet, which was a new kind of Ronan, a more worrisome kind of Ronan.

Adam had hoped he’d come with him on his road trip to Maine, that they would have a few more nights together, but before Adam realized, Ronan had agreed to have Matthew stay and it was no longer an option. Had something changed? Did Ronan not want to do this anymore?

If that was how Ronan felt, the least he could do was tell him. He didn’t want him to pretend to want this out of habit, or worse, pity. Adam refused to be pitied.

“You could at least fucking talk to me since I'm leaving tomorrow,” Adam barked when he couldn’t stand it any longer.

Ronan stopped mid-swing and let the axe fall to the ground. His body heaved a sigh and then he leveled his gaze at Adam. “I was just giving you some fucking space.”

“Space? Space! Why would I need space? We're going to have plenty of space tomorrow. Seven hundred miles of space, Ronan. Do you even care?” It had been awhile since Adam had let his emotions get the best of him, but old habits die hard and he could feel the familiar sting of venom coursing through his veins.

He looked and a block of wood that was by his foot was suddenly three feet to his left. Adam was never really aware when he did such things. He just couldn’t stand feeling that way anymore.

Ronan’s face twisted into something pained and fierce. “Of course I fucking care.”

“Well, you didn’t want to come to school with me.” Adam knew this sounded childish and that he was being selfish, but there it was.

Ronan frowned. “You didn’t ask me to go.”

Adam went to open his mouth and then paused. He had just assumed Ronan would go with him. It's true that he didn’t ask. But how could he not know that he would want to be with him as long as he could? _Because you are leaving him._ Adam started reworking Ronan’s behavior in his mind.

“I know this is something you have to do,” Ronan said, obviously choosing his words carefully. “I just thought you wanted to do it alone and I didn’t want to get in the way.”

For the last few months, Ronan had gone back to being the Ronan who was allowed to be happy. He still could have bad days, but mostly he was the snarky, smart-ass, vibrant being that Adam had grown to adore. It hadn’t really occurred to Adam how difficult this might be for him.

“I don’t want to be alone, Ronan. I want to be with you.”

The truth hung in the silence between them. There wasn’t anything either of them could say to make this easier.

Adam took a step toward Ronan, his face illuminated by the eerie glow of his dream fireflies. His expression was strikingly calm. Not typical for Ronan Lynch.

Adam put his hand on the back of Ronan’s neck and pulled him forward so that their foreheads touched. Ronan lifted his hands and rested them on Adam’s hips. Both of them stood there, breathing in one another’s air, not wanting to let each other go.

When Adam couldn’t stand it any longer, he forcefully pressed his lips against Ronan’s. All at once they were legs and hands and lips all entangled. Pressing harder and harder, wanting, needing to be as close to one another as possible. Closer than their bodies would allow. Adam’s affection and desire was all consuming.  

Ronan pulled away and ran his thumb along Adam’s bottom lip. He was looking away as if he didn’t want to meet Adam’s eyes. “I want you to have something.”

He pulled a white ball of tissue out of his back pocket. He placed it in his left palm and started to carefully open it. Inside was what appeared to be a silver band, except it sparkled in a way that Adam had never seen before. As he looked closer, he realized there were symbols etched on the band: hands, a crown, and a heart.

“It’s a Claddagh, a traditional Irish ring. It's almost identical to one my Mom had.” As he lifted it up to the light, Adam noticed that on Ronan’s right hand he wore a similar band, although this one was a deep opal color. “The hands represent friendship, the crown loyalty and the heart... well, you get it.”

Adam took it in his fingers and examined it carefully. “It’s a fede ring. Ancient Romans wore them.”

“Right,” Ronan agreed. “Mani in fede.” He gently took the ring back and flattened out Adam’s right hand. “The heart facing toward you on your right hand means your heart is taken.” As he slid the ring on Adam’s finger, Adam noticed a glimmer from the left side of his vision.

It was Ronan’s ring. It was now the same brilliant silver as Adam’s band. “They’re dream objects?”

Ronan nodded. “I kept thinking I wished there was a way that you could know that I was always with you and I woke up with these. When you’re wearing it and think about me, then my ring will turn this color and yours will do the same.”

“You made us magical fucking mood rings, Lynch.”

“I guess I fucking did.”

“You’ll never live this down.”

“I know.”

***********

The drive up to school was long but uneventful. Adam listened to podcasts and went through his mental check lists. It felt strange to be by himself, even though he'd basically been alone for the first sixteen years of his life. His stomach knotted. How had he so easily gotten used to being part of something?

You can do this, he told himself. He didn’t actually _need_ people. It was something he'd thought over and over again, but this time, he wasn’t sure he could convince himself. And is that who he really wanted to be? Did he really want to return to _lonesome_ Adam?

After twelve hours of driving, he followed the signs to the school and finally found himself on campus. He located a parking spot on the side of the road and pulled out his new student materials. New student check-in was in the Commons.

There were students walking throughout the quad, looking like they knew where they were going. He figured it would be smart to follow them. A group a few feet in front of him were laughing and giggling like they were already old friends. Adam had no idea how people connected so easily. It was never that easy for him.

“Name?” a friendly-faced upperclassman asked at the check-in table.

“Adam Parrish.” He tried to smile through his jumble of nerves.

She handed him a key. “You're in Cheney House, room 3. You’ll want to get your student ID to get into the dining hall and the rest of the important information is in your packet. The Orientation Welcome starts at 4pm in the Gray Cage.”

He nodded in thanks, but his brain was barely awake enough to process all that information. According to the map in his packet, Cheney House was the large yellow Victorian-style house on the edge of campus. There were a number of these houses at Bates, the only things not covered in brick and ivy. The structure of this particular one reminded Adam of the main house at the Barns, a comparison that pleased him greatly.

The dorm rooms had stark white walls, echoing the fresh palette every new student now had. Adam's room was about the size of his room above St. Agnes, except this time he had to share it with a roommate—a boy named Nick who had clearly already arrived and claimed half the space. His bed was neatly made, although there were still quite a few boxes on his side of the room. Adam put his bag down on the other side of the room and sat on the bed. The school provided each student with a desk, a dresser and a bed. It was more than he had ever had of his own, even at the Barns.

He and Nick had gotten acquainted a bit over email. Nick said he was on the track and field team (his event was shot put) and that he thought he might want to be a biology major.

Adam hadn’t had much to tell Nick. He wrote that he had liked debate at Aglionby so he might try the debate club. He had no idea what he wanted his major to be. His plan had always been to get out of Henrietta, the details after that were never very clear.

Adam dug into his bag and pulled out his cell phone. It was nothing fancy, the basic model, but it was one of the first luxuries he had ever allowed himself. His work-study job would cover it, in addition to his monthly payment on the laptop he purchased from the school and the car insurance he insisted on putting on the BMW.

His mind came back to Ronan, because these days it always came back to Ronan. He couldn’t call him. What would he say? _I miss you. I hate this._ How could he tell him he was miserable, when it was his choice to be here?

Adam used his thumb to twist the shiny silver band around his right ring finger. It was Sunday. If he was at the Barns, it would be storytime, Adam in the window seat reading while Opal and Ronan spread out on the floor. Sometimes Opal would try to chew on the edge of the book cover, other times she'd wrestle with Ronan.

When he left, they were reading _Alice in Wonderland_. Opal had wanted to wait for Adam to come back to finish, but he knew their lives couldn't stop without him.

He pulled up Ronan’s number and texted, _I’m here._

A knock broke his focus. A stocky guy stood in the doorway. He was a bit shorter than Adam, but had a good twenty pounds on him, solid but not overly muscular. He gave Adam an easy smile.

“Hey! Adam?” he said as he came into the room and stretched out his hand. “I’m Nick.”

“Oh, yeah.” Adam shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, Nick.”

“I hope it's ok, I just took this one.” Nick gestured to his side of the room.

Adam nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

Nick looked very much like an athlete. He was wearing a maroon Bates shirt and running shorts. His golden brown complexion complemented his short jet black hair. He was definitely handsome, made more so by the genuine good-natured vibes he emitted.

“It’s so great to finally meet you. I can’t believe we’re here. This year is going to be amazing!”  Nick’s dark brown eyes had a glint of excitement, evidence that he was sincere. Adam wished he felt even a fraction of that.

As he talked, Nick oozed positivity and kindness. Adam was actively picturing him help an old lady cross the street and volunteering to mentor children.

Adam tried to listen as he excitedly told him about all the interesting things he had already encountered at the school. He wished he shared Nick’s enthusiasm, he _should_ share his enthusiasm. He found himself agreeing to go with Nick to a number of Orientation activities. At that moment, he promised himself he wasn’t going to be lonesome Adam any more. If he was here, he was going to make the best of it.

His phone beeped. Ronan had texted him back one word: _good._

***********

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where the title is explained and Ronan sings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't taken Latin for many years so if anyone finds errors in my text, feel free to comment! Latin translations are in hover text.

The Grand Master was lighting candles for the waking ceremony. The Order of the Ravens needed as much energy available to them as they could harness, and the waking ceremonies helped to focus her inner eye to help her plan their next steps. 

Waking the ley line had been done many times before. Almost any major war in human history was either started or ended by a ley line waking. But most men were foolish. If the sacrifice was not done in the right way, demons could easily take over with their thirst for power and human suffering. This magic required the precision of a scalpel, when most used a hatchet. Still, she'd found it more difficult than she had anticipated. 

In the fifteenth century, the lines were laid dormant by the Knights of Caledfwlch, but thankfully, those meddling do-gooders hadn’t been heard from for centuries. But the Grand Master was not naive. There were others out there invested in the power of the lines, enemies who would need to be dealt with, even if they hadn't shown themselves yet.

Their latest attempt at waking the lines had been to plant the seed in a young upstart, Barrington Whelk. He had turned out to be a useless investment; his narrow-mindedness resulted in failure. But the ley line in Henrietta had recently been awakened with a vibrancy that had not been seen in any other ley lines in North America. 

The Grand Master still was not sure exactly how this had happened. Henrietta boasted a manic Greywaren determined to burn out the ley line, and a pack of fools looking for fame and trinkets. No, none of those so-called magic collectors were capable of controlling real power. The many deaths and destruction caused by the demon proved that. 

The Grand Master’s network reported it had been five teenagers who somehow woke the line. The details of which, none had been able to fully put together. The only one who appeared to be of any consequence was Richard Gansey III. However, as far as their research could tell, he didn’t hold any mystical powers. Currently, he was off galavanting with two of the others. The Commanders continued to report on his whereabouts but none of the information appeared to be significant. The whole thing was very unsettling. 

But there was one thing the Order learned from this: this group of someones was able to wake the line without a mass genocide or a tragic natural disaster. 

The stars had foretold a time when the ley line would wake globally and the Magician of the Raven King will control all magic. _This must be the time._

“Master,” a cloaked male voice came from the shadows.

“What do you have to report?” 

“The clairvoyant in the North East quadrant is detecting an increase of energy and believes the fifth may now be in residence.”

“Excellent, Commander. Find a way to get the Greywaren to start work on the ley line in that quadrant. Has the clairvoyant found the vortex yet?”

“Not yet, Master, but it is close. The energy shift means things will become clearer.”

“Fine, keep me updated. And be sure to follow protocol. We don’t want another Henrietta incident on our hands.” 

“Yes, Grand Master.” 

***********

Adam still had one more of his new courses to attend. Yesterday he’d gone to _Microeconomics_ and _Calculus,_ this morning he’d gone to _European History in the Late Middle Ages_. The syllabus for the European History course had a module on Wales. He looked forward to some lengthy discussions with Gansey on the topic. 

The last class was _Intermediate Latin;_ he was well past the beginner level thanks to Aglionby.

Adam found the classroom and took an open chair in the middle of the room. He looked around at the other students in the class to see if he recognized anyone. Many were chatting with the person in front or beside them. Most of these students were likely sophomores. 

Adam’s eyes were drawn to a group only slightly behind him at the corner of the room. They all seemed to be hunched over looking at a piece of paper and making notes. There was something familiar about the four of them, their expressions set as if they were working out something. 

They looked like an odd group, a mishmash of personalities and styles. The girl with purple-streaked black hair and copper skin wore thick eye makeup and a barbell eyebrow piercing that emphasized her extraordinary green eyes. Her expression was all sharp edges like the spikes on her belt. Adam found it particularly strange that she was wearing fingerless gloves, despite the fact that the August weather was hot, even by Virginia standards.

The other girl was tall and thin, her glowing deep brown skin was almost as striking as her curly, voluminous hair and her bright smile. Her dress’ neon-colored geometric shapes seemed to fit perfectly with her laugh, boisterous and genuine. 

One of the two boys was sunken down in his chair, his dirty blonde hair stuck up in all directions like he had just gotten out of bed. One tail of his shirt was tucked in, while the other hung loose. Even his eyeglasses were slightly askew. 

The last boy appeared to be the one leading the conversation. He was gesticulating wildly and pointing at different parts of the paper, his hazel eyes dancing with excitement. His brown hair had every strand in place and his clothing looked freshly pressed. His salmon polo had a popped collar and when Adam looked down to his feet he almost laughed out loud to see his top-siders. Gansey would have loved this guy. 

It made Adam miss him, and Blue, and Ronan—even Henry. He wished he was with his friends, but he also wished he was part of something again. 

The girl with the purple streaks noticed Adam looking at them, her eyes like daggers. She whispered something to the rest and they all turned to stare at him. Adam could feel his face burn red as he shifted his gaze to his notebook.

“Salvete, scholares,” the instructor greeted the class, a welcome interruption to Adam’s embarrassment. “I’m Professor Solis, but you can call me Edith.”

The Professor’s presence was large, her grin a bit mischievous. It felt in contrast to her business-like appearance of extremely short hair and pressed button up shirt.

Passing out the syllabus she continued, “We’re going to start with some Cicero, and analyze his writings and speeches within the context of the time period. Now that you Latinists have a solid handle on the basics, we’ll be able to read more complicated passages than the Wheelock textbook.” 

“We’ll also be reading some Catullus which is some of the most beautiful fucking latin you’ll ever read.” 

Adam’s first thought was that Ronan would love her. 

He raised his hand. He couldn’t help himself. When Professor Solis nodded to him he asked, “Magistra, nos hic loqui Latin?”

“Edith, please. Loquis Latine bene,” she replied. “Quod nomen est tibi?”

“Adam,” he added.

“Adam, we do speak Latin at times, but as an intermediate course we do not require it. Our focus is to advance your ability to translate some complex texts. You may lead the class in this area. I take it you took Latin prior to coming to Bates?”

“Quattor annis,” Adam responded. 

“Magnificus,” she said.

Of course, this exchange did not seem to ingratiate him to the other students. Purple streak girl rolled her eyes at him, while popped collar guy eyed him quizzically. Adam Parrish, making friends wherever he goes.

After class, Adam gathered his things and headed out into the hall. The rag-tag group were now talking intently in the hallway. Adam put his head down, hoping to get by them without drawing any more ire from the girl with purple streaks. 

“Hey, Adam, right?” Dopplegansey stepped in front of him. Now that Adam was standing so close, he noticed how perfectly symmetrical his face was. His nose, his eyes, his cheekbones, all his facial features appeared to be perfectly in place.

“Oh, yeah.” Adam remembered himself. “Adam Parrish,” he said, extending his hand. 

The boy shook it. “Rhys Weston. I’m sorry about my friends. They’re a bit protective,” he said, nodding his head toward them. 

Adam looked over to see them all acting as though they weren’t listening, even though Adam was certain they were.

“What do you know about Welsh kings?” Adam’s attention snapped back.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said, what do you think about Welsh history? I saw you in our European History class as well.” 

Adam refocused his thoughts. He must have misheard him because so much about Rhys reminded him of Gansey. But it was strange, he hadn’t noticed him in the class.

“Oh, I do enjoy some Welsh history,” Adam said hesitantly.

“Well, then, that settles it. You must join our study group. Come and meet the rest.” Adam found it hard to believe that he hadn’t noticed this group in the history class, but it was a large lecture course with over 70 students, as opposed to the small group of 20 in Latin. 

“Adam, this is Anne Johnson.”

“Hello,” the girl in bright colors greeted Adam in a melodic tone, while waving at him.

“Shane Wilson.” The wrinkled boy nodded to Adam. 

“And Stacey Chasin.”

“Stace,” she, said not leaving her position of leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. “Call me Stacey and I will kick you in the balls.”

“Now, now, Stacey,” Rhys chided.

Adam swallowed, “Well, that’s aggressive.” 

“Damn straight,” she responded looking down at her nails as if this entire conversation bored her to death. 

Rhys pulled out a business card. “This is how you can reach me. We meet at the library on Wednesdays at eight sharp. Do be sure to be on time.”

Adam reminded himself that he had decided he would make the effort to connect to people. He nodded and stood there staring at the card as the others walked off.

The card read, _Rhys Weston, Rarities and Collectibles._

***********

When Adam got back to his room, he picked up the phone and dialed. On the third ring, Gansey’s familiar jovial tone greeted his good ear. 

“Adam! So good to hear from you! How’s it going at Bates?”

“Good, great. It’s great. I’ve just started all my classes. I’m taking a European History class that has a reading on Welsh Kings that we hadn’t found. Should be interesting.”

“Fascinating! A year ago, I would have said we knew everything there was to know about Welsh Kings, but there were a lot of things I was mistaken about a year ago.” Gansey’s voice was like a warm familiar blanket that Adam wanted to wrap himself up in. 

“Speaking of,” Adam began gently, “how are you feeling?” 

“Fine, fine,” Gansey brushed the question off. “Still some lost time, but overall I’m getting back into the swing of things. Matter of fact, Adam, I could really use your brain to assist on my new task.”

“Oh?” Adam asked, genuinely interested. He hadn’t realized how much he missed Gansey the adventurer. Or how much he missed adventuring with him. 

“Henry and Blue would have likely been happy enough to drive in that atrocity of a Camero and see the sights, but I had a bit higher hopes. I pulled together all my research and notes on the ley lines of North America and started mapping them. When we first left Henrietta, there were anomalies radiating outward across the ley lines, including various reports of strange weather and celestial events.” 

“And then there was this article about the recent archaeological discovery. Here let me send it to you.” He paused and Adam heard a tiny ping in the background. “There.” 

Adam went to his laptop and opened the link. The article title read, _Ancient Roman writing tablets found in London_. Adam skimmed through it as Gansey continued, “The article mentioned some of the tablets were writings about Glendower in relation to the Knights of Caledfwlch.”

“Caledfwlch, Caledfwlch,” Adam repeated trying to jog an old latent memory. “Isn’t that the Welsh name for Excalibur?” 

“Precisely, my good man!” The excitement in Gansey’s voice was palpable. 

“Do you know what the tablets say?” 

“No, but I have a call into Malory to see if he's been able to take a look at them.”

“You think maybe Glendower was looking for Excalibur? And that if he was, it could be somewhere in North America?”

“That’s my guess. It may be nothing. But then again, there may be something happening with the ley line out here in Arizona,” Gansey said. “Henry got tired of watching me wander around with a dowsing rod trying to find energy changes, so he got his mother to procure us a magical item that's much more accurate.”

“The dowsing rod was never very helpful in finding dormant lines,” Adam observed. 

“Exactly, “ Gansey agreed. “But this was completely different. At the Grand Canyon, this compass, this magical compass that's been allowing us to map out the line, just went haywire at mile 203. So I convinced Henry and Blue to hike to the bottom. It took a few days, but when we got down there the EMF reader was off the charts. We haven’t found anything else yet, but I want to keep looking. I think something is there.” Gansey’s voice grew steady and serious. “Adam, I trust your judgment above all else. Do you think I’m being crazy?”

“No,”Adam answered immediately. Not because he was convinced of the picture Gansey was painting, but because he knew it was what Gansey needed to hear. Was it possible? Sure. They had all learned pretty much anything was possible. He was asking Adam to take a leap of faith with him, as Adam had once before and as Adam always would for his friend. “How can I help?”

The relief in Gansey’s voice was apparent, “Can you find all you can about the Knights of Caledfwlch?”

“Absolutely.” Adam once again had a mission.

***********

Adam sat quietly studying at his desk. After about a month of going to classes, he was finally settling in. The amount of work was comparable to Aglionby, but it required him to stretch his thinking more, something he found he greatly enjoyed. 

It helped that he was able to dedicate most of his focus to it. Working one job instead of three felt like an impossible luxury, and his work-study job at the campus library allowed him to do some of his assignments once his primary responsibilities were finished. Adam was a hard worker, so that happened quite frequently. He felt energized and his mood and his academic performance both benefitted from it. 

His cell phone buzzed and he closed his text book, marking his place. A picture of Ronan and Opal flashed on the screen, Opal with a devious expression and her hands covering Ronan’s eyes. Adam wasn’t even sure if Ronan knew he had taken the photo. 

His heart leapt a bit as he pressed the accept button. “Hello?”

“Parrish,” Ronan greeted him. 

“Lynch,” Adam responded, all grins on the other side of the phone. Ronan actually called Adam just as much as Adam called him, having apparently gotten over his complete disgust for his cell phone. Adam had teased him about it only once; Ronan responded by hanging up the phone and not calling him again for a week. Adam decided not to mention it again. 

“How’s the Barns? How’s Opal?” He was hungry for any shred of detail he could get about life back at the Barns.

“The little brat is passed out from exhaustion from being a pain in my ass all day. She was digging holes all over the south lawn while I was trying to mend the fence.” Ronan added, “I told her to cut the shit, but you know Opal, she just stuck her tongue out at me and ate some dirt.” 

“She usually listens to you a bit better than that,” Adam observed. 

“I think she misses Matthew,” he said. “And you.” There was a pause and Adam couldn’t tell if the phone might have disconnected.

“Ronan?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Listen, I think I should come to visit so I can send her to visit Matthew and Declan.”

“Oh, so you want to visit...for _Opal_ ,” Adam was not doing a good job masking the amusement in his voice. “Lynch, are you trying to tell me that you miss me?”

“Shut up, Parrish.” 

Adam yawned. “Hey, I keep forgetting to ask, have you talked with Gansey lately?"

“About a week ago. He said he was mapping the ley lines and Henry got him some piece of shit dream object to find them.” 

Adam laughed. “I’m sure yours would have been of a much higher level of craftsmanship.”

“Fucking right it would,” Ronan agreed.

“I’ve started doing some research for him again, but so far, I haven’t found much.” Adam yawned again through the last few words of his sentence.

“Are you sleeping okay?” There was sudden concern in Ronan’s voice.

Adam tried to stifle a third yawn. “I’m trying. I guess it’s still hard to get my body to adjust to not being on overdrive all the time. I end up laying in bed and I can’t shut my mind off.”

“Why don’t you try to listen to some soothing music or some shit.” The words were harsh, but Adam could hear the sincerity underneath.

Adam thought for a minute. “How about you sing me one of those songs you sang at the Irish music competitions?”

Ronan groaned. “No fucking way.” 

“Oh, come on, Lynch. I have an exam tomorrow. You know I don’t perform at my best when I’m tired.”

“These songs aren’t going to put you to fucking sleep. They’re jigs and reels and shit.”

Now Adam was giggling. 

“What the fuck, Parrish?” 

“You said 'jig'. I just can’t help imagine you and Declan dancing a jig now. 

“Fuck off, Parrish. There is no fucking way I'm singing anything now.”

“Oh, come on!” Adam pleaded again, a mock hurt tone in his voice. “You sang for Gansey in the caves.” 

Ronan’s sigh was loud through the phone speaker. “There is one. One that my mom used to sing me,” he admitted.

Adam yawned yet again. “Sing me that one. Please, Ronan.” This time Adam’s voice was sincere; all teasing had been removed, his sleepiness apparent as his Henrietta accent came out on the o and the a in Ronan’s name. 

Ronan started very low in almost a whisper, “ _Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee, all through the night._ ”

“ _Guardian angels God will send thee, all through the night._ ”

Adam closed his eyes and focused on Ronan’s voice. He imagined Ronan peacefully lying in bed as a child, with his mother singing him this song. 

“ _Soft the drowsy hours are creeping, hill and dale in slumber sleeping.”_

What must it have been like growing up with a mother who loved him the way Ronan’s mother obviously had? 

_“I my loving vigil keeping, all through the night.”_

What would it feel like to have someone who loved him sing this song to him?

And then Adam realized, it probably felt like this.

***********

Ronan hadn’t told Adam he was working on rebuilding Cabeswater. He wasn’t sure how Adam would react, if he'd be hopeful or angry or worried. Fuck, he would probably be all three.

Ronan had been dreaming pieces of it for the last few months and would likely need to keep doing so for a few more. The original Cabeswater took years to create, but he had learned quite a bit since then. He was now able to create with more accuracy and more efficiency. But still, dreaming an entire fucking magical forest was not one night of work. 

After putting Opal to bed, he laid down on the couch to get ready to sleep, to dream. It always helped to sleep there, where he and Adam had spent their first night together. The smell and the feel of the upholstery grounded him. He drifted off, holding onto that feeling. 

“Salve, Greywaren,” the trees gave their usual greeting. The wind blew through the leaves, making the trees sway as though they were dancing. 

Ronan returned the greeting, “Salve, Cabeswater. Keep it safe.” It was a reminder Ronan always gave, despite all the changes he had made. Intention still held great power here and Ronan had not always been able to keep his mind focused. 

Many of the first times he tried to recreate Cabeswater, he stumbled back into the night that the demon unmade his mother. It only took something simple, like him focusing too long on a field of red poppies, the color reminding him too much of the blood and gore of that day. That was when Ronan had become aware of the grounding effect Adam had on him. When he woke, Adam was there and he was able to refocus, relax and go back to his dream and start again. 

Ronan walked through the grove of trees into the clearing. There, laying in the middle of the field of daffodils, was Adam’s resting body. The first time Ronan had seen him there, he'd panicked. But once he got to his body, it was clear that Adam wasn't hurt, only sleeping. 

Without Opal in his dreamscape, dream Adam appeared to be his new anchor. Ronan was always able to recognize the dream and was much better at creating the next part of Cabeswater when he was there. 

He sat down next to dream Adam on the ground, running his fingers through his soft hair as he watched him sleep—the same as he did when the real Adam was at the Barns. 

He missed that face, the sun-kissed freckles and the long beautiful eyelashes. A dull ache of pain hit Ronan’s chest. _Just come back_ , he thought. He kissed dream Adam lightly on the forehead and went back to the task at hand.

Although it was similar, this Cabeswater was not the same, which meant Adam would no longer be beholden to it. But Adam still rightly should be connected to it. The connection just needed to stem from Adam, not the other way around. That would be the trickiest part, but he knew now that he could dream whatever the fuck he wanted; it only took time. 

He had already built a pretty complex security system for Cabeswater, one that would not only alert Ronan if anyone attempted to find it, but functioned like a dam, increasing the amount of ley line energy within Cabeswater and controlling how much could be pulled from or released to the rest of the line. For the moment, the valves were closed. Ronan had hoped that the absence of energy would discourage any latent interest in Henrietta that their previous adventures may have caused. And as far as he could tell, it had worked. 

Now he needed to build some sort of receptacle for Adam to plug into. He turned away from dream Adam and started digging into the dirt. He envisioned Adam and his connection to Cabeswater. He kept digging, his fingers hitting something smooth and cold. As he cleared the dirt he could see something shining through. He continued to unearth a gold disc like an archeologist would unearth her latest find. He envisioned Adam reaching out and touching the disc when he needed to summon Cabeswater’s energy. 

“Ronan?” The unexpected voice startled him a bit.

Ronan turned around to find Adam awake and sitting up next to him.

***********

Adam was completely disoriented. “Ronan, how did I…” His voice trailed off.

Ronan just sat there beside him, staring. 

“Is this Cabeswater?” Adam said, still trying to make sense of what was happening.

Ronan’s face looked a bit panicked. Adam reached out toward him and he flinched.

“What’s wrong, Ronan? You’re scaring me.”

“I can’t touch you,” Ronan spit out the words. “I can’t bring you back with me.”

“Wait, are you dreaming? Am _I_ dreaming?”

Ronan shook his head. “ _You_ are a dream,” he said, almost as if he was talking to himself.

“I think I would know if I was a dream, Ronan.” Adam almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this statement.

“No, you wouldn’t,” Ronan disagreed.

Now Adam was furious. “Fuck off, Lynch. Tell me what the hell is going on!”

His change in tone seemed to shake Ronan free of whatever fears were paralyzing him. He grabbed hold of Adam’s face, smearing dirt on his cheeks and looking him square in the eyes. Whatever he saw seemed to satisfy him. 

“You’ve been here all along?” Ronan looked to be working something out in his mind. “I guess it fucking worked,” he breathed. 

“What worked?” Adam had completely lost his patience at this point.

“I think you’re scrying into my dream right now. I think maybe you have been for months, but you weren’t fully here. I thought I was dreaming you.”

Adam looked around. It did feel like he was scrying, but he hadn’t focused his mind to do it. He had fallen asleep to Ronan’s voice and the next thing knew, he was here. 

“But, how? I thought I couldn’t do this anymore?”

“Well, I guess you were fucking wrong, Parrish.” A sly smirk started to spread across his face. “I reconnected you to Cabeswater with this.”

He gestured at a brilliant gold disc—it looked familiar. Adam thought he might have been dreaming about it before he woke up here.

His head was spinning. His chest felt tight, except it wasn’t his chest. He wasn’t actually here. _Here_ didn’t actually exist, at least not in the same way that his room back at school existed. 

“Adam? Adam!” Ronan called, shaking him, but Adam’s mind was speeding so quickly he could barely register that Ronan was even talking to him. “You’re not its eyes and hands anymore, Adam. I made sure of it. But you can reach out to Cabeswater again and draw energy from it, if you want.”

“So you brought Cabeswater back?” Adam’s attention snapped back to Ronan.

“A version of it, yes. A better one. A more secure one.”

“And you’ve been doing this for a while?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Yes.” Ronan’s voice was getting smaller with every answer. “Non progredi est regredi. ” 

“I want to wake up,” Adam said plainly.

Adam opened his eyes and he was lying in his bed in his dorm room, seven hundred miles away from Ronan and Cabeswater. Seven hundred miles. He’d never scryed that far before and he'd done it without even trying. He couldn’t help but wonder, what else could he do?

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam is angry at Ronan. Ronan looses his chill and visits Adam at college. Greek poetry ensues. This is the chapter with the fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sappho translation](http://www.sappho.com/poetry/sappho2.html) by Diane Rayor.
> 
> Continued thanks to [wildflowersoul](http://archiveofourown.org/users/wildflowersoul/pseuds/wildflowersoul) and [Tenillypo](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenillypo/pseuds/Tenillypo) for their beta prowess. They are gods among women.

Adam spent the next day stewing in the previous night’s realization. The best assessment he could make was that he had been scrying for months and that meant his soul had been precariously away from his body. He and Ronan had both been at risk. 

Adam took a look at the clock. He needed to leave for his shift at the library. As he started down the hill from his house toward the quad, he saw Nick walking across the street with an older woman. Adam raised his hand to greet him, then stopped with a jolt of recognition. He'd seen that woman before—not in real life, but in an idle daydream the day he and Nick met. The two of them looked exactly the way he'd imagined them in his mind's eye. 

“Hey, Adam.” Nick met him at the bottom of the hill. “This is Mrs. Vanderbilt. She’s a 1968 alumna.”

“Nice to meet you, Ma’am,” Adam said, using the most polite version of his accent. His heart was racing. “Enjoy your tour of the campus.”

The picture in his mind that day had just seemed like a vivid flight of his imagination. But considering the events of last night, it definitely could be more. He needed more evidence to figure out exactly what was going on. And he needed to discuss this with Gansey. And maybe Maura. This was one of the many times he wished Persephone was still here. She would’ve had an idea of what was happening. She would have explained it in riddles and seemingly random tasks, but she’d have helped him. 

He thought about calling Ronan back, but he didn’t know what to say. How could Ronan make a decision like this without telling him? Did he think Adam would have tried to stop him? He knew how much Cabeswater meant to Ronan- it meant a lot to Adam, too. But he would have liked some time to prepare.

Once he got to the library, Adam checked in at the front desk, then headed down to shelve in the bottom floor stacks. The basement floor was cool and mostly deserted. Adam pushed his cart into a room occupied only with rows and rows of old musty books. He unraveled his new earpiece, one where he could hear both channels in his one good ear, and queued up Ronan’s mixtape on his music player. He would never admit to Ronan how often he actually listened to it, even the stupid _Murder Squash_ song. 

There was something he really liked about shelving books - the clear set task, creating order out of disorder, the rhythm of grabbing a book, locating the spot, putting it on the shelf and returning to the cart for another. It calmed his mind in ways that many other activities didn’t. 

The ceiling lights began flickering on and off. Adam pulled out the earpiece and looked up, but there was no sign of a bulb blown or other clear cause for the dysfunction. There had been some power interruptions the last few days; maybe they were having another electrical storm. 

The lights came on again, but now they were buzzing softly. Adam shoved his earpiece back in, annoyed, and went back to shelving. Except he could still hear the noise. Gradually the buzzing grew from a low hum to a vibration under his feet. 

A loud slap of a book cover on the ground made him jump. Behind him, other books on the shelves were vibrating violently. Adam moved toward the doorway, trying to steady himself on his feet. That’s when the lights blacked out.

The pitch black surroundings only lasted a moment. When he could see again, he was no longer in the library, but instead a vast cave, very similar to the underground cavern they had found in Henrietta. Small slivers of light shone down from what appeared to be some sort of gaps in the ground surface. Like holes poked in a piece of paper, small bursts of light littered the ground. 

It took a few moments for his mind to make sense of his surroundings. First, he realized he was standing at the edge of a deep gorge, along with a few others. Next, he noticed a searing pain at his forehead. When he reached up, a dark, sticky substance covered his fingers. It took another few seconds for Adam to register it as blood.

“Don’t!” Anne screamed as Rhys lunged at Shane. 

“Adam!” Ronan and Stace yelled together from the other side of the cavern. 

In the pit of Adam’s stomach, he knew someone was going to die— 

The lights flicked back on and all was back to the way it was before, except for dozens of books laying haphazardly on the cold cement floor. Adam, shaking, did his best to pull himself together. It must have been an earthquake. In Maine? That didn’t seem likely. Maybe it was some sort of utility accident? He ran out to make sure everyone was okay on the rest of the floor. 

Two students were sitting in the study area, reading books. Neither looked up when Adam walked into the room. It seemed pretty clear to him that they had not experienced the earthquake at all. 

So now he was having visions. This was a thing that was happening. Persephone had always implied Adam could be Maura and Calla’s third. But it never occurred to him that she'd meant that he was actually clairvoyant in the same way they were. He could read the cards, although he was severely out of practice. He had even sometimes felt a sense of things to come. But this was much different; these were memories of the future and dreams while he was awake.

And this vision seemed to indicate that Adam would be in a life or death situation in the not-so-distance future. All Adam’s feelings from the day Gansey killed the demon came back - the fear and the helplessness. He had thought he was free from it, but now his gut was telling him that was the hope of a naive child.

Adam finished his shift in a daze before making his way to his Wednesday evening study group in the copy machine room. At the usual table, Rhys and Anne were looking at their history textbook while Stace sat with her arms crossed, still wearing arm length gloves, her head bent back and leaning on the chair. Adam wondered if she was ever interested in anything. Shane was furiously taking notes, the most studious of the group. Adam thought he understood Shane the best. He always appeared to be planning and researching. 

Rhys nodded at Adam as he stood to take a call, pacing back and forth as he talked.

Adam sat down, still compartmentalizing the information he'd obtained from his vision not an hour ago, though he made sure to keep his face relaxed. He'd had a lot of practice with this type of hiding, after all, keeping his father's abuse a secret every day for years. But he hated having to do it again now, just when he’d gotten used to being his authentic self.

Stace looked up. “Oh, it’s you. Why are you so damned loud?”

Adam just blinked at her. Was she being sarcastic? Stace struck him as one of those predatory plants—a pleasing shape that appeared as if it would taste wonderful, but then once its prey got too close, the venom drowned it. 

“But, you’re not listening - “ Adam heard a tone in Rhys voice that he had yet to hear, something close to annoyance. “Yes, fine. I’ll be there.” He closed the phone and suddenly the poised version of Rhys had returned and joined the group at the table.

“Adam, what did you think about the last reading in the textbook?” Rhys asked, starting the group dialog, as usual. “The Black Death was an atrocious thing.” Adam frowned. Rhys' fingernails were unusually dirty. The guy was normally pristine. 

“I was most interested in the religious and spiritual responses to the plague and the many other crises the people were facing,” Adam reflected, shifting his attention back to the rest of the group. “The rise of mysticism and the reaction of the Church.”

“Right," Anne said. "The church cracked down on those people by declaring them heretics because they thought they could commune with God without the church.” There was a black smudge on her face as well. 

“They were a bunch of morons,” Shane broke in, dismissively. “The Church was powerful and they were knowingly defying them. Of course they were treated like heretics and got themselves killed.” 

“Well, that’s an uplifting thought.” Stace hadn’t appeared to be listening, but apparently she was. “This is just all patriarchal bullshit. The poor fucking women having to deal with it, it makes our societal misogyny look like a fucking picnic.” 

“Maybe the rise of mysticism allowed for the creation of the Knights of Caledfwlch?” Rhys was now studying Adam. “Wouldn’t you agree, Adam?” Clearly this was some kind of a test. Adam was relieved that someone was finally going to stop pretending this was a normal study group.

“I’ve only heard of the Knights of Caledfwlch once before,” Adam admitted. “In reference to those tablets they found in London.” 

The others exchanged a look. “I think it might be time that we take you to Professor Solis’ house,” Anne said.

“Yes,” Rhys agreed. “We have some things to show you.”

“What kind of things?” Adam said slowly. His vision made him leery of this entire situation.

“Magical things,” Rhys said with a gleam in his eye.

Adam did not blink. He did not move. He wasn’t sure what to say. He could act as though they were being absurd, but he knew they weren’t. 

“Jeez, Rhys. You don’t have to screw with me just because I’m the new guy.” 

“Come on Adam, let’s be real—” Rhys tried again.

“Look, let me know when you all are ready to actually study,” Adam said, gathering his books and taking off. He wasn’t exactly sure how to handle this situation, but he didn’t particularly like being cornered. He just wanted to push pause and catch his breath.

When Adam arrived back at this dorm room, Nick was on his bed, reading. He looked as though he had just left practice. He always looked as though he’d just left practice. Track and field wasn’t just an activity for Nick. He treated it like a religion—evaluated every piece of food he put into his body as fuel for performance, worshipped strength and endurance. His prayer was the constant work he put into striving to be the best. Adam had never put that much energy into athleticism, but he admired this laser focus. Their mutual respect for one another’s drives quickly became the basis for an uncomplicated friendship. 

Nick truly was the first friend he had made post-Gansey. Maybe Adam wasn’t so awful with people after all, but more likely it was just Nick who made it seem that way. He was just one part of this quasi-normal life Adam had started to create at Bates. Life had been quiet, non-magical, _normal._ If that was going to change, Adam wanted it to be on his own terms.

***********

Adam woke up on the first day of October break and took the opportunity to read on the quad, sitting under the tree he had rested under on his first visit at Bates. It had become his favorite outdoor reading spot. Something about it just reminded him of so many things that had comforted him in the past: Blue, Ronan, Cabeswater. Although today, his feelings were much more mixed about a few of the items on that list. 

He was trying to get a head start on his work, but his mind kept wandering to the events of yesterday. 

His phone buzzed. Ronan was trying to call him again. Adam set it down and sighed. He was still too confused to talk about this latest turn of events. He didn’t know what to say.

His ring caught in the sunlight. It had been blazing silver for the last couple of days. He started twisting it again, looking up at the sky and marveling at the red autumn leaves. Fall in Maine was surprisingly beautiful. He closed his eyes, feeling the sun and the cool autumn breeze on his face.

“Kerah.” The familiar call interrupted his attempt at relaxation. 

“Chainsaw?”

Adam opened his eyes and there she was, sitting on his shoulder. He looked around and saw Ronan striding toward him.

“There you fucking are. What the fuck, Parrish?” His voice was angry and hurt. 

“You came here? Did you fly?” he said dumbly. If his mind had been jumbled before, this new turn of events had brought it to a complete halt.

“Of course I fucking flew. I can’t teleport,” Ronan snapped. 

“You brought Chainsaw on a plane?” Adam tried to picture this and found his brain freezing again.

Ronan dropped his hands to his hips. “I got her a seat. Declan wouldn’t take her after she tore up his first edition of _Atlas Shrugged_ last time she was at his place.”

Chainsaw was gently pecking at Adam’s hair. He reached up to stroke her feathers and she let out another affectionate, “Kerah.”

Ronan sat down next to Adam like he had months ago. A part of Adam wondered if he was hallucinating again, but something about the intensity of Ronan's gaze felt too real to be a dream or a glimpse of the future. “Are you fucking okay?” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Adam said. “I was just trying to figure this out. I’m kind of pissed. I didn’t expect you to come all the way here.”

Ronan shrugged. “I told you I was going to visit.” He leaned into Adam without touching him, blue eyes piercing into his. “I’m sorry, Adam.” He was thrown off guard. Ronan Lynch didn’t apologize for anything. 

Being this close to Ronan again made his whole body come alive. Despite his residual anger, every breath he took wanted to pull Ronan in. “I know,” he admitted after a moment. 

Ronan’s lips met his and Adam’s whole body melted into him. All the uncertainty he had been feeling for the last few days vanished. All Adam felt was his want. 

Ronan reached up and brushed Adam’s hair from his eyes. “Fuck, Parrish,” he gave his usual comment of approval. 

Adam playfully threw some leaves in Ronan’s face. “You should come and see my dorm room, Lynch.” He stood and pulled Ronan to his feet. “My roommate is out of town at a meet.”

***********

Ronan decided that making out with his boyfriend in his dorm room may be one of his favorite things to do. He loved being with Adam at the Barns, but here he was a slightly different Adam. He was Adam in his element, glowing from the excitement of all he was doing. Ronan listened to him talk about school and work in gasps of breath between kisses. 

“You fucking nerd, Parrish,” he said, his face hurting from the smile he couldn’t hide. He had missed him so much. 

“Shut up, Lynch.” Adam’s own smile lit him from the inside out. There was a time when Ronan wouldn’t have believed that this could be Adam, that he was capable of this much joy. 

He felt a twinge to see Adam thrive so much without him. He hated all the fucking assholes at this school who got to spend everyday with him.

Ronan ran his thumb over Adam’s elegant cheekbones. “You look tired.”

“I didn’t really sleep last night,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to end up scrying again and lose control.” 

Ronan sighed. This was what he’d been trying to avoid. He’d fucked up. “You were caught off guard. I’m sure if you focus, you won’t do it. You just have to get back into the habit of controlling your mind.”

Adam was now tracing Ronan’s chest with his finger. Every touch sent chills down his spine. 

“This is different, Ronan. Something strange is happening here. I can feel it.” He paused, then admitted, “I think I’m seeing flashes of the future.” 

Ronan marveled at how wondrous Adam was, how they were the same. He rolled onto his side and propped his head up on his hand. He interlocked the fingers on his free hand with Adam’s, admiring how Adam’s ring glowed furiously and how beautiful his hands were. It had only taken a few short months for them to become soft and smooth, no longer calloused from hard labor. 

Ronan couldn’t stop touching him. Two months was way too long to be away from this. He let out a growl and rolled on top of Adam, pulling the blankets from Adam’s bed over their heads. 

Adam laughed. “Ronan, I’m serious!” 

God, he loved that laugh. “I know,” he breathed. His lips brushed Adam’s neck and moved up to to his good ear. He whispered, “It’s fucking sexy.” 

Adam let out a groan of approval and he scraped his nails across Ronan’s back. Ronan knew Adam’s first impulse was to analyze every aspect of a situation. It was Ronan’s job to shut his mind off, and he had gotten really fucking good at it. 

Ronan spent the rest of the evening succeeding in his task; Adam slept peacefully in his arms that night. 

***********

Adam woke up content, his arms and legs entangled around Ronan’s smooth curves and soft skin. Sometimes he wondered how someone as fierce and astonishing as Ronan wanted him. Adam had spent a lot of time in the past focused on what he didn’t have. It was strange to think he'd once been sure he wasn't capable of emotions like this, and now his chest felt as though it might burst with the intensity of his feelings.

Bates has turned out to be so different from Aglionby. He truly felt like he belonged here. And now that Ronan was here with him, for the first time in his life, Adam’s head and heart were in the same place. 

He kissed Ronan gently on the forehead—smiling to himself at how different things were between them from even a year ago—then pulled his arm out from under him and rolled himself out of bed as quietly as he could. 

“The fuck, Parrish? It’s still early!” Ronan grumbled before he rolled over. 

But Adam was awake, and an awake Adam was a thinking Adam. He sat down at his desk and opened his computer. He had bookmarked some journal articles about Caledfwlch and the Welsh mythology around it. There were a few that associated the search for it with Glendower, so Gansey’s theory was compatible with the little they truly knew about the sword. But there weren’t any references to the Knights of Caledfwlch. 

Adam thought about Rhys’ comment. He was Adam’s only lead on this. If Adam went with him to Professor Solis’ house, then he might finally have something to bring to Gansey.

Adam had asked Gansey to email him his ley line map of the Northeastern United States. Gansey himself had not yet been able to map it, but he had made notes based on historical reports. From what Adam was reading, it was possible that they were now on another ley line. It was the only way Adam could explain the bizarre things happening.

Ronan was stirring. “Son of a bitch,” he groaned. “I don’t know how you get up so damned early.”

“Habit,” Adam answered matter-of-factly. 

“I’m assuming you need to geek out on your homework?” Ronan nodded to Adam’s pile of books. 

“Some,” Adam agreed. 

Ronan got up off the bed and grabbed the top book, Catullus’ poems in Latin. He sat back down and started flipping through the pages. Ronan regularly kept up on reading a variety of Latin texts, so Adam was fairly certain his skills had well surpassed his own. 

“Have you read any of those?” Adam asked nodding at the book. “People were too embarrassed to translate his poems in class because they were so explicit.”

Ronan considered. “Sounds like my kind of Latin. I doubt any of our bullshit high school instructors would have let us read this.” 

Adam tried to imagine reading these at Aglionby. It would have resulted in anarchy.

Ronan sat there giggling furiously. Adam expected nothing less. “Some of these invectives are bad ass,” he commented, grabbing Adam’s Latin dictionary to continue reading.

Adam turned around in the chair, shooting him a quizzical look. “You’ve read invective poetry?”

Ronan glared back. “I’ve told you before, I know stuff. I read Cicero,” he added.

Adam nodded, remembering Ronan’s book of Cicero’s writings. “I just figured you’d be less interested in the poetry.”

Ronan shook his head. “I’ve been reading a lot of ancient Greek poetry and then reading multiple translations to try to pick up the language.”

“Really?” But when he thought about it, he realized he shouldn’t have been surprised. Ronan didn’t hate learning; he just didn’t like school. They weren’t always the same thing. 

“I was looking at the translation box and I just started thinking about wanting to be able to read more languages. Poetry is short. It’s easy to memorize, easy to find different translations so I can try to get a sense of the language.”

This whole scenario was extremely entertaining. He got up off his chair and went back to the bed to sit next to Ronan. “Wait, wait, you’re memorizing poetry? Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?”

“ _Adversus solem ne loquitor,_ ” he responded, the words themselves arguing Ronan’s point. Adam had been basing his expectations on the persona Ronan presented. He should’ve known better by now. 

Ronan shifted himself over closer to Adam so that their legs were touching and picked up Adam’s hand. While tracing his fingers, he took a breath and started to recite from memory in a deep, low voice: 

_“To me it seems_ _that man has the fortune of the gods,_ _whoever sits beside you, and close,_ _who listens to you sweetly speaking_ _and laughing temptingly;”_

Ronan put Adam’s fingers to his mouth and kissed each fingertip gently. Adam could barely breathe, his heart was beating so quickly.

_“My heart flutters in my breast,_ _whenever I look quickly, for a moment--_ _I say nothing, my tongue broken,_ _a delicate fire runs under my skin,_ _my eyes see nothing, my ears roar,_ _cold sweat rushes down me,_ _trembling seizes me,”_

Ronan’s eyes gazed into Adam’s as he spoke. The intensity was almost too much to take. 

_“I am greener than grass,_ _to myself I seem_ _needing but little to die. But all must be endured, since…_

Ronan’s eyes shifted away as his voice trailed off. The meaning of the last line hung between them. Endured. That was what they were doing, enduring. 

In that moment, Adam didn't want to think about Ronan leaving to go back home. He didn’t want to think about ley lines or homework or visions of the future and what they meant. He just wanted to think about this passionate, intense being sitting next to him who, for some reason Adam couldn’t fathom, wanted to be with him. 

“Ronan, I…” Adam started, but he didn’t know what to say next.

“This is fucking hard, Adam.” The severity of Ronan’s words surprised him. “I don’t want to need you, but I do.” He paused, seeming to gather the words. “And I can handle it, most of the time. But then I couldn’t reach you and I can always reach you.” Adam sensed real anger, not Ronan’s typical posturing, bubbling under the surface. He had unintentionally sliced a mortal wound. “You were ignoring me. That’s fucked up.”

The irony of Ronan Lynch being upset at him for not answering the phone was not lost on Adam, but it wasn’t the time or the place to bring that up. 

“I’m sorry." Adam agreed. "I should have at least let you know I needed more time. But maybe next time you might also not jump on a plane less than a day after you can’t reach me?” He tried to inject some playfulness into his tone. 

Ronan looked suddenly sheepish. “Yeah, alright.” 

Adam couldn’t help but find the whole thing absolutely adorable. He kissed him, hoping that it said more to Ronan than he could say with words. _You are everything, you are mine._

***********


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A car chase! Feeeelllinggs!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter so I'll try to get the next one ready earlier for next week.
> 
> Hovertext for the Latin translations. Same thank you's continue to apply! (See other chapter notes)

The Grand Master was growing tired. She had called for reports from all quadrants, as the Order did not appear to be any closer to its goals than it had been at the same time last year. It was impossible that the Henrietta line was a fluke, but still, all her foot soldiers there said the same thing - the line had disappeared. 

That was nonsense. Particularly when the line in the southwest appeared to be sending off sporadic signs of awakening. The number of reported incidents of crying statues and alien sightings had been astronomical in the last few months. _Signs and portents._ But now they seemed to be dying down, like a wave that had crested and was now drifting out to the abyss. They may have only been line ripples from the awakening in Henrietta, but that was still something. It was _possibility_. 

Now she focused her energy on the northeast, on the vortex farthest along in the process, next to Henrietta. The fifth had arrived and that was what was necessary to begin a successful ritual. It all went wrong without five. Three might work, the Grand Master thought to herself, but two is a disaster. It had been five in Constantinople, five in Rome, five at Harlech Castle. _Oh, that Owain. He was a crafty one_. And now five in Henrietta. Yes, five was the number. Three was too much of a risk of becoming two. 

“Are you sure you found the fifth?” she asked her northeast commander. 

“Yes, ma’am. And you will find this interesting. His name is Adam Parrish, one of the five from Henrietta.” 

_Signs and portents._

“And what have you discovered?” Adam Parrish was a poor boy from Henrietta, seemingly inconsequential. But clearly, this was a facade. 

“He’s very guarded,” he answered. “I’m working on him.”

The northeast commander was shrewd. He rightly saw the game as chess, planning three moves ahead. But her patience was wearing thin. 

Possibly, it was time to force some urgency into the situation. 

***********

Ronan tried to be a good sport throughout his visit. Adam wanted to keep up with his work and study some more with those asshole Bates kids, so Ronan read more Latin, picked up some food for them and then took a long drive in the BMW, something he had missed immensely. Most roads in town were windy, neighborhood roads, so he headed out to the highway where he could get some speed. 

Riding in the BMW reminded him how much he loved the feel of the seats and the familiar noise it made when he shifted gears. But now it had the added pleasure of smelling like Adam. 

The sun was glaring brightly in Ronan’s eyes as it began to set. He had been driving for about an hour when he decided to pull off the highway and turn around so he could get back by nightfall. There had been a black sedan driving behind Ronan for the last twenty minutes. He didn't think much about it until it followed him off the exit. 

Ronan had a particular sense about the behavior of cars and the drivers behind the wheel. He had spent many hours observing whether people were interested in racing or just acting for show. This driver was handling the car with purpose. 

But was it tailing him? _Let’s see what this bastard will do._ He looked behind him in the rearview and made a sharp u-turn, peeling his tires as he maneuvered. The car behind him immediately made the same turn and sped up.

“Fucker,” Ronan muttered, his heart beginning to race. The familiar thrill woke his entire body. He still loved speed, despite having found other, more preferable ways to feel alive. 

He skidded onto the highway and shifted the gears as quickly as he could. The tint was too dark and the sun was now at his back, shining into the mirror. He couldn't see the driver.

Racing was trying to get ahead, being chased was trying to get away. For Ronan, they were the same. Both made his heart want to explode. _What the hell did this asshole want?_

Just as the thought passed Ronan’s mind, the black sedan sped up and bashed the BMW’s bumper. Ronan swerved, trying to keep himself out of the range of the other car, but it slammed him again. There was no doubt: it was trying to run him off the road. He swore. One more hit like that and he'd be in the ditch. 

It was now dusk, which made visibility even more difficult. He tried to check the license plate, but it was impossible to see.

As an exit came up, Ronan made the last minute decision to downshift and pull off the highway. The sedan was apparently not anticipating that move because it overshot past the exit. Ronan accelerated and blew through the red light at the end of the exit ramp. He wasn’t going to give the car a chance to catch up. He kept eyeing the rearview mirror as he pulled off onto a side road and made his way back to Bates on a less direct route. But he no longer saw any sign of the sedan. 

As he pulled up to Bates and parked, one clear thought cut through his adrenaline rush: to anyone here, the BMW belonged to Adam. Someone was trying to hurt _Adam_. 

***********

Ronan had clearly been tense since the moment he got back from his drive. At first, Adam wasn’t able to get much from him, but as he climbed behind Ronan and began working the knotted muscles in his shoulders, Ronan started to relax. 

Ronan scrubbed his hand over his head. “Someone tried to kill the BMW,” he said abruptly, “and probably you too.”

“What do you mean?” Adam shifted around so he could look at his face. It was solemn. This particular look was scary on Ronan Lynch. 

“Some asshole in a black sedan tried to run me off the road.” Ronan dropped his head, still rubbing his hair. “But he was a shit driver and I got away.”

Adam’s stomach knotted. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He frantically ran his hands over Ronan’s head, hands, checking for signs of injury, but found only broken shards of worry in the tenseness of his body.

“Adam.” Ronan looked up. “They weren’t after me. No one knows me here. It was a message for you. Whatever's going on here, it is serious shit.”

The knot in Adam’s stomach told him Ronan was right. But he felt like he was on a road that he couldn’t diverge from. All he could say was, “Okay, I promise to be careful.”

Ronan was still looking at Adam gravely, but he nodded and wrapped his arms around Adam’s waist. They held onto one another the rest of the night, their grasps a bit tighter than usual.

The next morning Adam suggested that they take a walk at the Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary to help lighten Ronan’s mood. He was leaving today and the events of the day before had clearly made Ronan even less enthused about that fact. 

As they got out of the car, Chainsaw took flight and appeared to enjoy cawing at all the other birds in the trees. Ronan picked up a stick and was poking around the trail, seeming more relaxed than he had been. 

The leaves were all bursts of color, yellows, reds and oranges covering the trees and the ground. The weather was a bit brisk, the slight chill nipping at Adam’s ears and nose. It made him feel warm and snug in his fleece jacket. 

Adam reached out and interlocked his fingers with Ronan, the two of them hiking through the trees hand in hand. 

“Adam,” Ronan said, after a long silence. “I really don’t fucking like this.”

“I know.” Adam wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t feel the same way. But they had been through much worse situations than this before. They couldn’t just stop their lives when weird magical crap happened. Their lives would never move forward.“Opal needs you, Ronan,” he continued. “I’ll be coming home for Christmas. It's only about another six weeks until finals.” 

“I don’t like the idea of you going to that professor’s house. And spending time with that study group,” Ronan added.

“But you’re there in my vision," Adam said. Magical logic was often the most infuriating logic. "So if you leave, then that means I won’t be in danger.” 

Ronan snorted but seemed slightly swayed. 

“And I can’t stay away from them, Ronan. We already know I don’t,” Adam continued. “But I can find out more about them and use my visions to figure out what the hell is going on.”

“I knew you’d fucking say that, you asshole.” Ronan dug into his pocket and pulled out two objects. One looked like a compass—Adam could easily guess what this was, since it exactly matched the description of the dream object Gansey said he was using to map the ley lines. The other was a small metal whistle. 

Ronan handed him the compass. “This one’s much better than that piece of shit Henry got.”

The needle spun wildly before finally settled on a firm direction. Adam curiously turned it in his hand “What does that mean?” 

“It means we’re on a ley line.” Ronan said. Adam nodded; he'd suspected as much. “It's pointing in the direction where the ley line energy is strongest.” Adam thought about the constant hum he'd felt since he arrived in this town. Was he feeling the line again? It felt so different without Cabeswater’s help.

He gestured to the other object. “What’s that one do?”

Ronan took the whistle and put it to his lips.The whistle was silent, but almost immediately, there was a rustling in the trees, as a familiar noise burst forth. A band of flapping wings exploded into the sky, the cloud of birds circling them in huge sweeping rings until the group flew off.

“Just in case you’re dealing with a fuck ton of animals again, or animal bones, I guess. It helps you direct them. At least as much as you can direct a group of wild animals.” Ronan shrugged. “I know it's weird, but I asked for things that could help you and this is what I got.” 

Adam didn't think he would ever stop marveling at the fantastical nature of Ronan Lynch. 

“Also,” Ronan added, “you should know, dreaming here is fucking easy. I barely had to think about what I wanted. It was just there. There is definitely some ley line shit going on.”

Adam nodded. He shoved both items in his pocket and grabbed a hold of the collar of Ronan’s leather jacket and kissed him. Ronan said nothing, but swung his arm around Adam and pulled him in tight as they walked back toward the entrance to the trail. 

The silence continued on the drive back to campus, the only noise in the car Chainsaw’s scratching and the occasional “Kerah.” When Ronan pulled the BMW up next to his rental car his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. He wordlessly lowered his head onto it.

Adam's heart clenched at the sight of Ronan so obviously struggling. He wanted to tell him to stay, but he knew that he couldn’t. Adam had hoped it would get easier, but this goodbye felt as painful as the last. 

“Ronan, how I feel about you…” Adam started, “ _ certum est quod certum reddi potest. _”

Ronan leaned into Adam and brushed a soft kiss on the side of his cheek. “I know.”

Adam cupped Ronan’s face and closed his eyes, trying to hold back the dampness welling in his eyes. 

After a moment, Ronan slowly broke away, reaching for the door handle. “Wait,” Adam said, grabbing his arm. He opened up the glove compartment and handed him two books with a ribbon tied around them. “Happy Birthday.” 

Ronan was quiet. Adam’s mouth went dry. He stared down at the books in Ronan's hands unable to meet his eyes. He'd come long way, but gifts were still hard for him-even giving them. 

But Ronan was letting him take his time. Adam swallowed hard, then pointed at the first book. “There’s a Greek lyric poetry book with some translations,and that’s my copy of Catullus’s poetry. I’ve underlined some of the good parts for you.” 

Ronan opened the second. Adam had simply written on the inside cover

_Ronan,_ _ Ego semper sum tua. _ _-Adam_

Adam watched Ronan read the note with a nervous ball in his stomach. Words weren't the primary language in their relationship. He wasn’t sure how Ronan would react. 

Ronan gave Adam a sad smile. “Miseria fortes viros,” he said, echoing words Adam had previously used to try to reassure him. Adam wondered if they had helped Ronan then because they did not fortify him now.

Ronan motioned to Chainsaw and the bird jumped on his shoulder. “Thanks,” he said as he opened the door.

Adam sat there still as Ronan got out of the BMW, into the rental car and drove away. His chest ached with grief, wishing somehow things could be different.

Adam picked up the phone and dialed Rhys. It didn’t seem like a coincidence that once he had been introduced to this oddball group of magic seekers that Ronan’s life had been threatened. 

“Hello, Weston here.”

“Rhys, this is Adam. I’m in.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam learns more about the magic study group and the Knights of Caledfwlch.

Adam agreed to go to Professor Solis’ house the next day. He hadn’t expected her to be involved in this, but considering his last two Latin teachers had been wrapped up in suspicious magical activity, he also wasn’t terribly surprised. 

He couldn’t shake the feeling that the weirdness with the study group had something to do with the attempt on Ronan’s life. Would Adam ever get used to this strange psychic sense that seemed to be growing stronger? He had dug out Persephone’s cards and tried to read them, but his vision around everyone here was fuzzy, just as Persephone had described her vision around Cabeswater. _Coincidence_ , Adam immediately thought, because it wasn’t.

Adam needed to know what the study group was up to, but considering what happened with Ronan and the BMW, he wasn’t stupid enough to let them drive him to some random place in rural Maine without any way to leave. So he agreed to go to Professor Solis’ house on the condition that he drive himself. 

Rhys and Anne quickly offered to come with him. It made Adam a bit uneasy, but he acquiesced. The two of them appeared to be a packaged deal, although Adam still hadn’t quite figured out the nature of their relationship. They appeared to both be as delightful and cheery as the other two were deadpan serious. 

They met at the parking lot and Adam motioned to the BMW. Rhys, always the gentleman, offered the front seat to Anne and got in the back behind Adam. His bright red v-neck sweater, pressed dress shirt, and navy blue bow tie made him look like he was going to a cocktail reception, not a casual gathering to discuss medieval Welsh lore. Except that was the exact kind of attire that Gansey would wear in this situation. Rhys’ Ganseyness always made Adam miss him. 

Without pretense, Rhys immediately said, “This is a dream object, isn’t it?”

“This is a what?” Adam hoped he had misheard him. “Sorry, I can’t hear out of my left ear.” 

Rhys shuffled to the middle seat and leaned forward. “Fascinating, an entire car! Can you believe it, Anne?”

“Shane said it was possible, but I hadn’t…” her voice trailed off. Anne’s eyes were wide. She looked around the car, clearly impressed. Adam had not misunderstood.

She placed her hand on the dashboard and ran her finger along it, dragging her shirt across it. Since the weather had turned colder, Anne had stopped wearing bright flowing dresses, opting for bright flowy shirts and a pair of jeans instead. Her hair was pulled up high on the top of her head, emphasizing her strong cheekbones. Everything about her always seemed so warm. Adam couldn’t help but like her.

“How? How did you know?” Adam was baffled. He had thought something was strange about these people, but even he couldn’t tell the difference between real and dream objects just on first sight. 

“It’s what I do.” Rhys shrugged. “Among other things. It was how I knew you were one of us. That ring screams at me. I told you I was in the business of rarities and collectibles. Actually, it’s my parents’ business.”

The casualness of the conversation was unnerving. Adam knew magic existed; it had just always felt tethered to Henrietta. He knew the ley line was out there, he'd felt the it pulsing through the world, starbursts of energy connected. But he hadn’t let himself truly believe the vastness of it all. 

“And what about you?” Adam asked Anne. 

Her brown eyes were soft, her smile still wide. Adam's pulse was racing, but both his passengers only gave off signs of relaxations and ease. Anne reached into her small, rectangular purse and pulled out what looked like a pink rose bud on a small silver disk. She placed it delicately on the dashboard of the BMW and blew over it. It reacted to her breath by slowly budding. A dream object. 

He stared, entranced. “You’re a Greywaren?” 

Anne’s eyebrows furrowed. “How’d you know that’s what they call me?” she asked. 

“Who calls you?” 

“The trees.”

Adam had no idea how to answer that question. He couldn’t give away Ronan. That wasn’t his secret to tell. “It’s something I heard from the magic collectors in Henrietta,” he blurted, then turned the car on and started driving.

Rhys grabbed ahold of front seat headrests. “I didn’t realize you were from Henrietta! Now it all makes sense!”

While keeping his eyes on the road, Adam said, “Henrietta is a hot bed for magical item collectors.” Adam paused, gauging their reactions. Both Anne and Rhys appeared engrossed in the details. “The collectors apparently get these trinkets, these artifacts, from dreamers. My friend’s mother is one of those collectors. She called them Greywarens. My friend said that someone actually tried to sell a demon. Sounds crazy, right?” 

When Adam mentioned the demon auction, Rhys’ interest grew intense. “I’d heard something about that auction, but demons are a distasteful business. My parents would never get involved in something like that. They consider themselves more historical art collectors of the magic variety. That’s how I met Professor Solis.” 

“And why are we visiting her house again?” Adam turned the wheel, taking them onto a smaller country road.

“She has an item that has had great meaning to the rest of us. We have a proposal for you that we hope you might be interested in, and I think seeing this object will help you decide to assist us.”

“But why do you need _my_ help? So what if I know about dream objects? That doesn’t give me any special skills to help you.” Adam glanced in the rearview mirror, trying to read Rhys’ face.

“Stace says you are our fifth. Stace is always right.” Rhys flipped his hands up in a gesture that said _simple as that_ and sat back in his seat. 

Adam glanced over to Anne. She must have been listening to the two of them, but her body language said she was someplace else, her gaze focused out the window.

He looked back at Rhys in the rearview “What does that even mean?” he asked, not bothering to soften his clipped tone. He’d grown tired of cryptic conversations. 

But, “You’ll see,” was all Rhys would answer, shifting his attention out the window.

***********

Professor Solis’ house was fairly close to the road and there were already two cars in the driveway: a silver audi A4 and a classic cherry red VW beetle. It was a large white farm house with a red front door and barn attached. Although there were a few architectural similarities, it didn’t look much like the Barns. It was smaller and ordinary looking, clearly not kept up by dreamers. 

Rhys got a call as he exited the car. He motioned to them both with one finger, indicating he needed a moment. Adam and Anne stood by the car waiting. Anne gave him a soft smile, “Don’t be nervous. What Edith has to show you is amazing. You’ll see.” Despite himself, Adam trusted Anne; he just didn’t trust any of the others. 

“But I really think—” Rhys’ voice had grown louder. “No, sir,” he continued. “Yes, sir.” The only time Adam had ever heard irritation in Rhys’ voice was when he was on his phone.

“What’s that about?” Adam nodded his head toward Rhys. 

“Oh, that,” Anne frowned. Adam didn’t realize her face could even do that. “Rhys has...obligations. They tend to wear on him.”

Adam looked over at Rhys again. His fingers were pinching the bridge of his nose while his feet were kicking rocks. Every time he said, “Yes, Sir,” he kicked a rock harder. 

And then just as before, once Rhys ended the call, his face smoothed. He came back over to them. “Ready, then?” he asked. They both nodded. “Righto!” He led them to the door, rapped with his knuckles twice and let himself in. “Edith!” he called cheerily. 

“In here,” she answered. Adam had no idea where “here” was, but Rhys seemed to understand where to go and continued with purpose into the kitchen. A huge grated metal rack hung from the ceiling, filled with at least twenty pots and pans of varying size, shape and color. Below the rack was a large butcher block island where Shane and Stace sat, drinking milk and eating cookies. It was nauseatingly picturesque. 

“Salve, Adam,” Professor Salvis greeted him, arms in the air. “Mea est domum tuam.”

“Gratias Tibi,” Adam answered politely. 

“Edith,” Rhys said with a smile. "I fear we are making Mr. Parrish a bit nervous. I think we need to get down to brass tacks.” 

“Right, right.” She gestured for everyone to follow. “This way.” 

Both Shane and Stace looked a bit put off to be leaving their snack, but Anne smiled at Adam in her typical easy way, and hooked her arm through his. She and Ronan were about as different as people could be and yet, she was another dreamer. Or at least she said she was. If it was true, then being an asshole wasn’t an intrinsic part of being a Greywaren. Adam flattened his growing smile.

Out in the barn, almost every inch of wall or shelf was covered in different objects. Some looked like typical farm equipment - shovels, trowels, a pick axe - but others were clearly pulled from dreams. There was a mirror that didn’t give off a reflection and a small fountain that was running without any obvious water or power source. There were different kinds of currency that Adam was pretty certain never really existed and strangely shaped objects, the like of which Adam had never seen before. 

In the corner, there was a glass case containing small figurines, various bejeweled items, and many texts of differing size and color—Adam guessed it was reserved for the most precious of her collection. Professor Solis removed a smart looking pair of spectacles from a small rectangular sleeve and placed them on the end of her nose. Then she pulled out a set of keys, unlocked the case, and gently pulled out one of the books, holding it carefully, as if she might damage it by the lightest touch, then slowly laid it down on the bench in front of them. Adam expected some sort of ancient text, but it looked pristine; only its style gave away its age. The cover was solid red like blood. It looked familiar to Adam, but he just couldn’t quite place it. 

“It’s called _The Red Book of Caledfwlch,_ ” Rhys explained. “It’s an amazing find. It’s similar to _The White Book of Rhydderch_ or _The Red Book of Hergest._ Have you heard of them?”

That was it. Adam nodded. “Welsh manuscripts with mythological stories, many about King Arthur.”

“Exactly,” Rhys said reverently. “Except this one has some interesting differentiating factors. First, it looks brand new. However, carbon dating of the book puts it at the 15th century.” 

“A dream object,” Adam posited. 

“Yes, very much so,” Rhys agreed. 

“Second,” Shane jumped in, not to be outdone, “it includes tales of the Knights of Caledfwlch, a group sworn to protect the power of Caledfwlch, which is more commonly known as Excalibur.” His clothing was as rumpled as ever, a t-shirt with some brown dirt marks on the shoulder. His hair still stuck up in the back. Adam was starting to believe that was a style choice. “The text says the group included Owen Glendower.”

Adam’s heart leapt in his chest at the name. “What does it say?” He did his best to keep his voice even, but he could feel Stace’s eyes on him, judging his every word and move—and, he suspected, every thought.

Shane carefully turned the pages, stopping near the middle of the book, and began to translate:

_“The Order of the Ravens attempted to steal Caledfwlch from the Raven King, claiming to be the true heirs to its power._

_So Owain and his magicians fled across the vast expanse of nothingness to seek the ultimate power, the path illuminated by Caledfwlch._

_Owain’s daughter was thought to be a knight, but showed herself as a traitor for the Order and was punished for her sins._

_Once on the corpse road in the new land, Marred ferch Dafydd, one of his magicians, foretold of its wakings in 500 years._

_Owain’s magicians read the stars and saw that the Raven King must dip Caledfwlch, ordained with the magician’s blood into the central vortex. The magician will then have the full power over the line bestowed unto him, stretching across the world._

_And Caledfwlch’s true power will be revealed, controlled only by the Raven King._

_Owain slept, waiting for his resurrection to gain the full power of the ley line, to lay to rest the untold waste of human suffering._

_In his wisdom, Owain sent his other magicians, Siôn Cent and Iolo Goch, to hide Caledfwlch on the line, constantly moving along it, only to be found when the surrounding lines are awake in all their glory._

_Each line will favor those who wake it._

_Caledfwlch will lead the way._

_Make way for the Raven King.”_

Adam’s mind was grinding. “Where did you even find this?”

Professor Solis turned to him, her eyes sparkling. “In a cave. About two miles into the woods that way.” She pointed to the back of the barn.

“But,” Adam said, brow furrowed, “that’s impossible.”

“Exactly fucking right,” Professor Solis agreed.

Adam grew quiet, taking all he knew about Glendower and trying to piece it together with the information in this text. Was it true? Would the jagged shards ever reveal a complete picture? Stace slid her eyes toward Rhys and Professor Solis. They nodded and she stepped toward Adam, her back turned to the rest of the group. She was still wearing her trademark fingerless gloves, although these had red and black stripes and the edges were frayed. She gently placed the tips of her fingers on Adam’s wrist. When she touched the fingers of her other hand to the book, Adam’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. 

Inside his mind, he saw flashes of pictures—like he was watching a movie at super speed. Glendower and his magicians. Glendower and Excalibur. Glendower and Margaret. Glendower and Gwenllian. Iolo and Siôn casting the spell to hide Excalibur _._ Artemus and the two other magicians putting Gwenllian in the crypt. Iolo dreaming the text and creating a place on the line for it, as he did Excalibur. Artemus and the two laying Glendower to rest, only to be interrupted by a dozen men in full cloaks. Siôn and Glendower dead. Artemus and Iolo fleeing. 

And then, without Adam’s consent, his mind shifted to his own Glendower journey. Adam’s sacrifice to the line. Finding Gwenllian. Finding Artemus. The death and destruction caused by the demon. Cabeswater. Ronan. Blue. Gansey. 

Adam abruptly came back to himself, gasping. “Get. Out. Of. My. Head,” he growled. 

Stace looked down at her hand on Adam’s wrist. Her fingers had gone from lightly touching to a forceful grasp. She pulled her fingers back suddenly, eyes wide for only a flash. Adam was certain no one else saw the briefly knowing expression, her face already back to stoic silence. “He’s a magician,” is all she said in response. 

“Excellent.” Rhys swung his fist as if he would sing a jaunty tune. Anne clapped her hands excitedly. Shane slowly allowed himself a sly grin. Adam looked at them all, dumbfounded. 

“I think Adam might need a cold glass of milk,” Professor Solis interrupted the group’s revelry, “and some cookies.”

In the living room, Adam ran his hand along the arm of the chair Professor Solis had seated him in. The soft blue upholstery had a calming effect. Adam rolled the chocolate chips around his mouth, letting the sweetness bring him back to his body.The others kept subtly eyeing Adam, looking for some sort of reaction, except for Stace who stood in the corner, picking at her cuticles. Adam kept watching her, waiting for her to spill the details of his entire life, but she didn’t move. 

“I see things sometimes,” Adam started, “but I don’t always know what they mean.”

Fucking brilliant!" Professor Solis said slapping Adam on the shoulder. 

Rhys nodded, “Shane and I both have some limited psychic abilities, but the real talent is Stace. As you can see, she has strong psychometric gifts. I apologize for the assault on your mind. We thought that was the only way to help you truly see.”

Adam slid his eyes over to Stace. “Don’t touch me again,” he warned.

“Sorry,” she said quietly. Adam almost believed her. 

“Three is typically a strong number when it comes to clairvoyance, “ Professor Solis began, “but there seems to be some cloud over the vortex that makes it more difficult. I think your help could make things clearer. Stace says your presence has already helped.”

Adam glanced at her again and she shrugged. 

“And what exactly do you want me to help with?” Adam was tired of the psychic get-to-know-you activities. 

“Why, waking the ley line, of course,” Rhys beamed. “Here, and anywhere else that is necessary. We’re going to find Excalibur.”

“Waking the line takes five,” Shane added. “Five with abilities, no offense Edith. Those successful at waking the lines or laying them dormant in these stories always had five.” 

“So what do you say, my good man?” Rhys put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Are you ready for a quest?”

Adam was always ready for a good quest, but what they didn’t know is that this is one that Adam had already begun.

"I'll think about it," he said.

***********

The next afternoon, he'd thought of little else. This whole thing had to have something to do with the BMW incident, but he couldn’t figure out how. He had never thought about the fact that driving around a dream object might make him vulnerable. He had also never thought that there might be more to Glendower than what they had all found. Clearly, he'd been wrong on both counts. 

He checked the clock and sighed. Time to focus on other things—no matter what happened with this, he still had a paper due next week. He needed to stay on track with his school work. _You’ve dealt with worse_ , he told himself. 

“God damn it!” he heard as he walked along the sidewalk to the library. There in front of Adam was the cherry red VW beetle, the hood propped open.

Adam stopped. “Trouble?” he asked. 

Stace pulled her head out, face smeared in grease. “It’s the damn battery. It died.” She wiped her face with the sleeve of her jacket. It looked like she'd obtained it, her boots, and her hat from an Army surplus store. 

“It may be for the best, you know these things are death traps,” Adam offered. He wasn’t sure if it was the ice in her glare or the early frost that caused him to shiver. He felt momentarily guilty for being less than helpful and added, “Can I give you a jump?”

She nodded.

“My car's in the Davis House lot.” He pointed back down the adjacent street. “I’ll go get it.” Adam jogged to get his car. The air was cold enough that his breath billowed up around him as he ran. 

It took him only a few minutes to pull the BMW up to her car and turn it off. When he got out, Stace was sitting on the curb, her arms folded, looking defeated. Adam thought for a moment she might actually be a real person and not a bundle of rage and snide remarks. 

“Hey, look, this will be a snap,” he said as he opened the hood to the BMW. He connected the jumper cables to his car battery, then to hers, making sure to ground it back on the BMW. Stace had already gotten behind the wheel of the red bug. 

He blew on his hands to get some warmth back into his fingertips and turned the ignition, letting the BMW run for a few minutes. “Go ahead and turn the ignition,” Adam called out his window. The beetle kept trying its best to turn over. It took a few attempts, but eventually, the little car tried hard enough and roared to life. 

Adam disconnected the cars and closed the hoods to both vehicles. He walked up to the driver's side of the VW, where Stace’s head was on the wheel. He rapped softly on the window and she took a few moments to crank it down. “You’ll just need to drive it around for a bit, that should recharge it. But I would suggest getting a new one before it gets too cold.” 

“Yeah, thanks.” She waved at him. 

Adam looked around, and seeing no one within the immediate vicinity, slid around the VW and jumped into the passenger seat. When he slammed the door, Stace let out a, “Hey, rude!”

“Look,” Adam started, “I need to know if you're going to sell me out to the rest of them.”

Stace let out heavy sigh, her black and purple hair hanging in her face. “I said I was sorry. I really didn’t mean to go into your head. It just...happens sometimes.” It occurred to Adam that Stace probably wore those gloves to minimize her chance of contact with people. “I wasn’t prepared for how powerful our energies combined would be. I had never been able to pull that much off the book before. Typically, I can only show people that Iolo created it, that Glendower had Excalibur. The rest was new.” She looked down at her hands, appearing to try to make sense of how they work. She looked over at Adam, eyes steeled. “Look, I won’t tell them anything you don’t want me to. I never tell them everything anyway. They couldn’t deal.”

“What does that mean?” He had never met anyone whose abilities were as strong as Stace’s. Well, except Ronan, but what he could do was different. The women of 300 Fox Way always seemed to need to concentrate when they wanted to see something, and it was often in flashes or riddles. Calla had the gift of psychometry as well, but Adam never felt like he had at Professor Solis’ house when she read him. 

She looked off in the distance as she answered, “It means the world is a shitty place and I get a front row seat to a lot of it. They don’t need to hear all the gorey details.”

“So why tell me?” Adam could see she was shaking. He couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or something else. 

“We’re the same in some ways,” she said flatly. “I could tell from your head. I knew you would understand.” And Adam did. There were often parts of himself he had tried to hide from his friends when he was Cabeswater’s eyes and ears. But Stace was talking about this like it was in the present, not the past. It made Adam nervous about what was to come. 

“But I do hope you decide to help us.” She looked directly at Adam again, eyes almost pleading. “We all need it, for various reasons.”

“So tell me why you need it,” Adam said. “You know my reasons for not wanting to help. You’ve seen what happened to me. Tell me why I should help you.”

“Because I need to find a way to make this all stop. If the magician controls all ley line magic then the magician - you, Rhys, Shane, whoever it ends up being - can take this shit away. It’s too much to bear.” 

“And,” she added, “If we don’t do it, I know for certain someone else will. And that will be apocalyptic. And, no. I’m not being hyperbolic. I can see them skirting the edges of line, waiting. I can’t tell you exactly what will happen, but it won’t be good.”

In spite of himself, Adam already felt persuaded. Ronan wasn't going to like this one bit. “What do you need me to do, exactly?” 

“We should do a reading together, all of us. And see what we can see.”

“Will the rest of them be able to see what you can see? I can’t risk dragging my friends into this.”

She put her thumb to her lips, chewing on her nail for a moment. “If you’re prepared to keep that part of your mind separate, they shouldn’t be able to see it. We could practice if you want. But—” Her eyes grew dark. “—I’m fairly certain your friends are already a part of this. 

***********

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of Ronan in this chapter. It was just how the story played out. But he's back with Adam in the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronan visits Adam again. More feeelings. Adam tells Ronan there is another Greywaren. Gansey, Blue and Henry tell Ronan and Adam that they think they've discovered something magical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has commented! Feel free to find me on [Tumblr ](http://www.incandescentflower.tumblr.com) if you want to discuss!
> 
> Betaing continues by the superwomen mentioned in the [Chapter 1 ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7964665/chapters/18216826)notes.

Classes were over for the semester. Finals started on Friday. Adam had already turned in his only final paper; his two final exams were not until the next Tuesday and Wednesday, so he felt like had plenty of time to study. That might have been why his mind kept wandering, trying to put the pieces of what he had learned about the Knights of Caledfwlch together.

He'd promised Stace that he would help them, at least with the reading part, as long as he felt confident he could control his mind. Stace told the group that Adam needed some time to work on his abilities before he would be ready to work with them. This seem to satisfy everyone, at least for now, and wasn’t too far from the truth. 

He rubbed his eyes and tried to refocus on his book, just as he heard a light rap on the door. And there was Ronan Lynch, standing in a doorway while Adam sat on a bed, a scenario all too familiar to the both of them. Adam’s entire body felt as though it had been sleeping for the last few weeks and now had suddenly woken up. 

Ronan appeared to recognize the familiarity of the situation as well, because he carefully walked over to the bed, picked up Adam’s book and placed it beside him, sitting down and leaning in to kiss him in the same soft sweet way Ronan Lynch liked to kiss. No one would likely believe that it was Adam who kissed Ronan like he might eat him alive. Adam’s kisses were savage and vicious. Ronan’s kisses were like his dream things, filled with beauty and light. 

Adam was kissing him back, but it was difficult since his lips kept curling into a smile. He finally pushed him away gently to take a breath. “You weren’t supposed to be here until next week!” They'd planned for Ronan to fly up on the day of Adam's last final and drive back with him in the BMW, since he would be home for almost a month and would need the car. Adam was particularly looking forward to spending some alone time on the drive back to Henrietta. 

“You know I don’t play by the rules, Parrish,” Ronan half snarled. He pulled off his leather jacket and dropped it on the bed. “I didn’t want to wait. And before you get your underwear in a twist, I’m staying at a bed and breakfast up the road so I won’t distract you from your study time.” Ronan saved a particular disdain for the words _study time._

His blue eyes were steeled, waiting for Adam’s scolding. Adam raised his thumb to Ronan’s bottom lip and lightly brushed it. Some of the tension left Ronan's body when he realized Adam wasn’t going to chide him for arriving early. 

“I missed you,” Adam said softly. “No Chainsaw this time?”

“I dreamed Declan another fucking copy of his precious book so he agreed to take her. Except this one has some slight alterations to the story.” His grin was a steel trap, metal gleaming. “John Galt gives away all his money and moves to a hippie commune.” 

Adam guffawed. 

“Asshole will probably never read it anyway.” He shrugged in that matter-of-fact Ronan way. He was wearing his usual black tank top, which clung to all the right places. His shoulders were broad and shapely from regular use on the farm. Ronan even wore those damn designer jeans like they were a second skin. Despite everything that had changed, the way Adam felt when he looked at Ronan was not one of them. 

Adam clasped Ronan’s hand in his. He had a long gouge across the back of his hand. Adam gently traced it with his finger. “What’s this?”

“Fucked it up on some farm shit,” Ronan responded as he gently stroked Adam’s hand with his thumb. 

“Hey, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you, but I wanted to talk in person,” Adam began. 

“Does it have something to do with the freaky Bates kids who are screwing with magic?”

Adam had called Ronan almost immediately after visiting Professor Solis’ house, but he left out one major detail that he thought would be of particular significance to Ronan. “Yes,” he admitted. “I just, I didn’t really know how you would react.”

“What the fuck, Parrish. You freaking me out. Just spit it out.” Ronan’s eyes were piercing.

“One of them, Anne, says she is a Greywaren.” Adam and Ronan had talked many times about whether or not there were others like him out there. They both suspected there were, considering everything they had seen. But they never had any good ideas on how to look for them, even if they had wanted to. Mr. Gray, the person they knew who had the most information about the world of magic, had never heard of any others like him. Despite that, it seemed that maybe there were forces that were destined to bring them together. 

Ronan frowned. “Did you see her dream something?”

Adam shook his head. “No, she just had a dream object that she knew how to use. I can’t say for sure if she really can do it, but she doesn’t strike me as a liar. She _feels_ genuine. She is also the happiest person I have ever met. And despite that, my gut says to trust her.”

That’s a fucking ringing endorsement coming from Adam Parrish,” Ronan agreed. “What about the rest of them?”

“I don’t really trust the others,” Adam admitted. “Stace let me read her. She showed me some visions that felt real, but I just don’t feel the same certainty with her. I saw what she wanted me to see. Shane seems preoccupied with the scientific study of the whole thing, but Rhys strikes me as having some ulterior motives.”

Ronan looked straight at Adam. “I want to meet her, the other Greywaren.”

“Ronan,” Adam started, “the more people who know about you, the more likely people like Laumounier will come after you. Remember what they did to Henry? And that was just for a stupid magical toy. Don’t you think it’s too risky? And what about the others? They are so tight knit. If you tell one of them, the others will know too. Who knows what the hell they will do with that information. They’re looking for ley line magic.”

“Parrish, we were fucking looking for ley line magic,” Ronan argued. “You can’t assume anyone who has anything to do with magic is evil. It’s part of who _we_ are. We shouldn’t have to live like it is something we have to hide.”

“Ronan,” Adam looked back down at their hands. “I couldn’t stand it if-”

When Adam looked up, Ronan was devouring him with his eyes. Adam’s body reacted instantly, blood no longer flowing to his brain. It was always like this with them—Ronan's desire for Adam excited him. Ronan wanting him made him want Ronan more. It was a feedback loop that often grew to an unbearable intensity. And before Adam knew it, he was doing something impulsive and not at all practical, like straddling his boyfriend while pinning his arms to the bed.

Ronan let out a soft groan as Adam pushed him down, pressing their bodies firmly together. The look of surprise on Ronan’s face was almost the best part. Almost. 

“Hey, whoa, sorry.” A surprised voice came from behind them. Nick stood awkwardly in the doorway in his typical _Bates_ t-shirt and shorts, eyes on the ground. 

Adam scrambled to the side of the bed, quickly wrapping his arms around his knees to hide himself. Embarrassment radiated off him in waves. He glanced sideways at Ronan, who wore a huge grin and slowly pulled his arms behind his head, giving him the best vantage to enjoy the show. 

Seeing the two of them had moved themselves into a less compromising position, Nick once again looked relaxed, wearing his typical easy smile. 

“Sorry, Nick, we shoulda...” Adam had no idea how to complete this sentence.

“No worries.” Nick said, already back to his affable self. “I’m Nick Morales,” he told Ronan, offering his hand. “You must be Ronan?”

Ronan’s smile subsided a bit as he took in Nick. He glanced over at Adam briefly before he extended his hand and said, “Yeah, that’s me. Nice to meet you.”

Adam was pleasantly surprised by Ronan’s use of manners. He let out a sigh and moved forward on the bed. “We really are sorry.” 

“Oh hell, don’t apologize ,” Nick responded as he spread out on his bed. “This is college. Just leave a sock on the doorknob next time.” He grabbed a pillow and put it over his eyes. “I’ve got a little time before practice so I was going to grab some sleep. Don’t mind me. You can resume what you were doing in twenty.”

Ronan stood up and grabbed Adam’s hand. “Let’s take a walk,” he suggested. Adam didn’t want to take a walk. He wanted to hang out there and then continue doing what they were doing once Nick had left. But every protest that came to mind was too embarrassing to say out loud, especially with Nick in the room. 

As they left Adam’s dorm room, Ronan appeared to read the disappointment on his face. “Fuck, Parrish. For being some sort of fucking psychic, sometimes you are dense. We’re going to _my_ room.” 

“Asshole,” Adam muttered at him, both pleased and annoyed at himself for not coming up with the idea. 

As they strode out of the front door onto the porch, the smell of the leather of Ronan’s jacket mixed appealingly with the chill of the late fall air. He was so preoccupied with the possibilities of where they were going that he almost walked straight into Stace. 

“Oh, damn,” Adam swore. “I forgot about our meeting, Stace.”

Stace’s face cycled through a rapid flurry of emotions: first surprise at almost walking straight into Adam, then recognition as she looked at Ronan, and then surprise again as her eyes landed on their fingers, intertwined together.

Stace cocked an eyebrow. “Whoa, Adam. You’re more interesting than I thought.”

“Didn’t get an eye full of this on my mind-tour?” Adam tried to keep his voice level, but he still felt a lot of resentment about her unauthorized trip through his memories.

Stace either didn’t catch Adam’s tone or didn’t care. “Apparently, not. I’m pretty sure I would have remembered this.” She pointed back and forth between the two of them.

“Thank Christ,” Adam muttered under his breath. The balance between him and Stace was so out of whack that even regaining that small part of himself felt like something. 

Stace added, “That’s good news for your training at least. You're already keeping control of parts of your mind, even when you’re off guard.” She nodded at Ronan with an uncomfortable familiarity. “Ronan,” she greeted. 

“Stacey,” Ronan sneered back, demonstrating all at once that Adam had told him everything and that Ronan Lynch had no problem pissing people off. 

Stace glared at him, but didn’t take the bait. “We can reschedule. You’re clearly preoccupied.” The way she said _preoccupied_ , it was clear she meant something crude. 

“We’ll be preoccupied for hours,” Ronan responded. When _he_ said preoccupied, it sounded positively obscene. Adam wasn’t sure he could take this arms race of badassery. 

“I’ll text you,” Adam threw over his shoulder as he dragged Ronan down the hill. Adam swore he saw Ronan turn his head to bare his teeth at her. He couldn’t imagine how the two of them would be able to get to the point of working together the way it appeared they were in his vision. 

It was colder out than Adam had anticipated, so he pulled Ronan’s arm over his shoulder and rested against the crook under his arm. They walked as one up the street. Despite the drop in temperature, the street was lively. The dorm lights were bright beacons in the twilight. Students ran up and down the outside steps, chatting and laughing. A group threw a frisbee on the lawn.

As they approached the turn to the bed and breakfast, Adam noticed Rhys pacing back and forth outside the residence hall on the corner. They were far enough away that Adam could only make out his dark peacoat and plaid scarf, but the way he held himself, Adam was sure it was him. He held his hand up to his head, as if he was once again on his phone. 

Adam tapped Ronan on the shoulder and motioned toward Rhys with a nod of his head. Ronan squinted. “That’s the Gansey clone? Fuck, you weren’t kidding. I would have thought that was him from here.” Rhys started gesticulating violently, clearly displeased with the conversation he was having. “That seems less Gansey-like,” Ronan commented. 

It was true. Whenever Gansey got upset, his reactions were internal. It wasn’t polite to emote in such a raw fashion. Adam wasn’t sure if Rhys had a different philosophy or if he merely thought no one was watching. 

Rhys had turned his back to them now. Suddenly, a sound like a growl burst out of him, accompanied by a sharp cracking noise. After a moment, he bent down. Rhys had smashed his phone on the ground.

“Definitely not Gansey-like,” Adam agreed.

Ronan pulled Adam closer as they moved past him. “Better watch that one.”

***********

Once they were in his room at the bed and breakfast, Ronan gave Adam approximately ten seconds to take off his coat and lay it on the chair before wrapping his arms fully and completely around him. He'd gotten used to the casual contact during their days at the Barns together. Even though he still had Opal and Matthew, with Adam gone now, he often felt alone. 

It was a feeling he once immersed himself in. Ronan Lynch against the world. Now it was one that twisted and turned inside him until it found a way to out. He would go to work, violently chopping wood or slamming nails with extreme malice. Physical exhaustion released some of those uglier pieces from inside him. 

But when Ronan was touching Adam, so much of that tumult just stopped. He grabbed Adam’s wrist and put his fingers to his lips. Those magical, wonderful fingers, capable of making Ronan feel things that were once beyond his imagination. They were all he could think about most nights.

Adam laid his head on Ronan’s shoulder; the setting sun filtering through the lace curtains splashed across his face. 

This ease was hard won. In the beginning of their relationship, Adam would often tense at his touch. He was easily startled and Ronan had done his best to indicate he was going to initiate contact, moving very slowly so that Adam would have a moment to think it through. Adam always needed time to think things through. But with time, Adam seemed no longer surprised by Ronan’s desire to touch him and even sought out the affection. Ronan always wanted to touch him.

A loud buzzing noise interrupted his appreciation of all that was in front of him. Ronan’s phone was sliding across the table with Gansey’s name on the screen. Adam wiggled out of his vice grip to pick it up. 

“Ugh, just fucking leave it.” Ronan snatched his arm and swung Adam back toward himself, trying to ensnare him with a hard, open-mouthed kiss. 

Adam appeared momentarily convinced, returning Ronan’s eagerness. But he held up the phone with his free hand and pressed the talk button with his thumb. 

“Son of a bitch,” Ronan muttered. Adam’s eyes danced. Ronan knew full well that he enjoyed this game. 

“Hey Gansey,” Adam’s voice was surprisingly level, but his breathing betrayed him. 

“Adam! Ronan’s with you? How fortuitous!” Gansey always sounded so chipper when he ruined Ronan’s good mood. “Ronan are you there?”

“Fuck off, shithead,” Ronan greeted. 

“Aww, how sweet,” Blue’s voice came over the speaker. “You really missed us!”

“I’d hoped that Adam would’ve been a better influence on you,” Henry’s voice chimed in.

“Piss off, Cheng,” Ronan growled.

“So uncouth!” 

“Hey Henry, hey Blue,” Adam interrupted cheerily. His smile was so genuine, it melted Ronan’s icy mood. 

Adam sat down on the bed and patted the flowered quilt beside him. The entire room was decorated by someone’s grandmother. It was drowned in the scent of vanilla and covered in flower patterns and lace doilies. The whole decor made Ronan’s skin crawl. The one exception was the painting of a red farmhouse above the bed, which looked nothing like his farmhouse, but still reminded him of it.

He sighed and sat down next to Adam, edging over close enough so their legs were touching. Adam held the phone out level between them so that they both could speak and hear clearly. 

“What’s going on there?” he asked.

“Gansey was just so excited, he had to call you guys,” Blue said.

“I actually tried to reach Adam first, but you didn’t answer,” Gansey explained. 

Adam’s face had a hint of red. He was particularly appealing when he squirmed. “I was a bit distracted when we left my dorm room. I must have left my phone there.” 

Gansey didn't seem to notice the change in Adam’s voice. “We found something strange in the canyon. There's a cave, and after walking through it for about twenty minutes, we found trees.”

“Trees?” Ronan repeated. He wondered if he had misheard him. “In the desert?”

“Yes, about a dozen,” Gansey confirmed. “We think they’re from Cabeswater.”

A complicated look crossed Adam’s face at the mention of Ronan’s manifested dreamscape. Ronan knew he was still struggling with its reemergence, even if he wouldn’t likely ever admit it. “Why do you think they’re from Cabeswater?”

Ronan had the same question. Finding trees in the desert was strange enough. Finding trees from a magical forest that only recently came back into existence seemed absurd.

“They talk," Blue said. "And they said they were lost.” 

“They also looked kind of sad and wilting. Still pretty good for trees in the desert, but whatever was feeding them seems to not be doing its job anymore,” Henry jumped in. 

“They felt like home,” Gansey added softly. 

The line was quiet for a moment. They all knew that Gansey was made up of the same stuff Cabeswater had been made from. A dream possibly, magic from another plane of existence likely, something beyond human definitely. None of them wanted to admit to themselves that there may have been some lasting consequences to Gansey’s death, but reminders of his difference always brought with them this question.

"Ronan, do you have any idea if this is possible?” His voice sounded hopeful. The explorer in Gansey couldn’t be laid to rest, even if his body had been. 

Ronan knew that they were asking him because he was the one who had dreamed the forest into life. This time, he had been much more conscious of how he made Cabeswater what it was, but that still didn’t mean he fully understood all the rules of the magic that governed the forest’s existence. Adam had a better sense of that. Ronan glanced over at him, but Adam just shrugged.

“I have no fucking idea,” Ronan admitted. “But I can ask them.” 

The conversation ended with promises to catch up at Christmas. Gansey didn’t want to leave his new discovery, but he had promised the other Ganseys he would be present for the family holiday gathering. Henry also had to see his mother and Blue hadn't been back to Fox Way for the last four months. In the end, they agreed to a two week hiatus to their road trip, with Gansey and Blue spending the entire time in or near Henrietta. 

“That’s fucking great,” Ronan replied in his usual way, but it really was. He’d missed Gansey and Blue—and even Henry, although he would never fucking admit that. Gansey had lived, but Ronan still lost him. It was a truth that was hard to take, even though he knew it had been inevitable. Life moved on. Adam’s life had moved on. His genial fucking roommate and the snide fucking psychic made Ronan want to burn the fucking school down. _That’s because you’re leaveable_ , the darkest part of Ronan’s thoughts whispered. 

Adam must have noticed the change in his mood because he put his hand on Ronan’s knee and said, “Hey, where’d you go?”

Ronan looked over at those deep blue eyes. Adam was so beautiful it physically hurt him. Ronan knew telling him that his new life lit a fire of rage inside him would only burn Adam. Ronan laced their fingers together and said, “Nowhere. I’m here with you.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronan starts to meet Adam's new magical friends. They begin to suspect that the magical happenings around Adam's college are somehow connected to Cabeswater. Someone from Adam and Ronan's past shows up. As usual, more making out and romantic-type thoughts.

When Ronan found himself in Cabeswater, he was momentarily confused. He hadn’t intended to dream, but when he was relaxed and energized, as he often was when he was sleeping next to Adam, the dreams came of their own volition. This was his opportunity to ask Cabeswater about the trees in the canyon.

The air felt pliable and electric and the trees danced breezily. “Salve, Cabeswater,” he began. The trees shook, but no answer came. He walked among them, touching their trunks. “Cabeswater?” he called again. 

They swayed. “Not Cabeswater. Soror nostra,” the trees answered. 

“Sister?” Ronan muttered, looking through the rows of forest sloping down a steep hill. As he walked, the trees changed a bit. Instead of the breezy deciduous trees, thicker, stockier evergreens stood. Their movement was slower and heavier than in Cabeswater and they spoke in a lower tone. “Salve, Greywaren,” they said. 

_Could this be another manifestation on this leyline?_ When Ronan recreated Cabeswater he’d thought about how it could be—and should be—connected to others of its kind. Later, he had dreamed up a barrier to protect it. It had the unintended side effect of preventing any connection outside of it, but the trees on the outskirts of this forest glen were too similar not to be. 

At the bottom of the slope, there were many different rocks—all smooth and rounded instead of sharp and jagged. These were definitely dreamed into existence. Ronan walked behind the largest of rocks; it was at least two feet taller than him. On the other side he found a variety of different objects strewn about. 

They were peculiar items to find, even in a dream forest. Ronan bent down and picked up the one closest to him. It was half of a stuffed bear. Not a bear that had been torn in half. Only one half of this bear had ever existed, seams gathered down the middle of its face, one eye staring back at Ronan. Next to it was a book. No, a book cover. The pages inside were missing. Object after object, Ronan examined them, finding them wrong in one way or another. 

From behind the next group of rocks, he heard a soft sound. Ronan cautiously got up and walked toward it. He might be a ruler in this kingdom, but even kings were sometimes overthrown. 

As he rounded the other side, he saw a young woman sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped around her knees, face buried in them. Her hair was black and voluminous. Her shoulders just barely shook with the quiet sound of her crying. 

Ronan didn’t want to scare her, but he couldn’t come up with a better way to make his presence known than to make some noise. He stepped on a pile of branches lying on the ground. 

She looked up at the snapping sound. Her dark skin glistened with the fresh, wet tears. Her eyes looked wary, but not frightened. “Go away,” she commanded. Swinging her hand as if to shuffle him off to another dimension. 

Ronon stood there, unsure how to proceed. His typical reaction to that sort of instruction would be to tell the girl where to go, but this time, he thought better of it. This was not how his usual dream creatures reacted to him.

She looked up. Seeing Ronan still standing there she asked, “Did you see her? Can you bring her back?”

“See who?” Ronan asked. The girl just ignored the question and put her head back down, crying. 

Ronan wasn’t really interested in sitting around and watching this girl fucking bawl her eyes out. Did intention have the same impact here as it did in Cabeswater? He focused his mind on the dream lights he had unleashed at the Barns. In less than a moment, he was surrounded by tiny orbs of light, bouncing and floating around the two of them.

She looked up, clearly confused at his continued presence. “How did you...” she began to ask, eyes wide with wonder. 

“Intention,” Ronan explained. “True belief in yourself and whatever the fuck you want.” From what Adam had said about the other Greywaren, he thought it was likely this was her. But if Ronan was right, either Adam grossly oversold her cheery nature or she was having an extremely bad fucking day. “Are you Anne?”

Now she looked at Ronan with suspicion. “Yes,” she said slowly. “How do you know my name?”

“Parrish. I mean Adam. Adam’s my...well, Adam.” 

“Adam’s your Adam?” she repeated.

“Yes.” _Boyfriend_ always sounded insignificant. He preferred _mo chéadsearc,_ but that wasn’t meant for others.

Anne got up from the ground and wiped the dust off her cobalt blue dress. “Adam didn’t mention you.”

That stung a bit, even though he knew Adam had good reason not to talk about him with his newfound magical pals. Ronan shrugged. “Asshole is protective.” Anne’s expression appeared to be a bit scandalized. She clearly didn’t appreciate the swearing and for some reason her look actually made Ronan feel sorry for it. “He told me about you,” he said, trying to set her at ease. “That you’re a Greywaren. Like me.” Once he said it, he thought about what Adam had said about being concerned about others out there wanting to hurt them, but he'd probably run into Anne outside of a dream at some point and his soft fucking heart felt bad for her. He remembered what it had felt like when he didn’t have full control of dreaming. It was raw, and sometimes amazing, but mostly excruciatingly frustrating. 

Someone had once helped him learn who he truly was. He didn’t appreciate it at the time, but it changed his life. Ronan's feelings about Kavinsky were still complicated. He wasn’t responsible for his death, but he was responsible for his own actions. Maybe if he could help Anne, he could feel as though he’d in small part made up for his mistakes. 

Anne was shaking her head, “Shane said there were others, but I don’t really think I believed him until now. I still barely believe I can do this. How do you do it so easily?”

“Practice,” Ronan answered plainly, “I take it this is what shit typically looks like outside the dream?” He gestured to all the broken objects on the ground.

Anne nodded, displeasure again on her face. “I can only seem to bring back something whole when I don’t try. I don’t realize I’m dreaming and I wake up and I have something.”

“But what about these trees? And those rocks? They must’ve been you.”

“I think so,” she admitted. “But I didn’t do it on purpose.” 

“Does this place exist outside here? On the leyline?” Ronan asked. 

Anne nodded. “But we haven’t found it yet. Shane said it should be wherever all the ley lines converge. Even though I haven’t been there, I can feel it, you know?” Ronan did know. “But I don’t think I made all of it. I think I just helped it grow. The trees on the top of that hill were here first.”

Ronan recalled his own realization that he dreamed Cabeswater. It wasn’t something he remembered doing the first time. Greywarens apparently needed dreamspace and if there wasn’t one available to them, they would create it on the line. Or in this case, expand it. Ronan was starting to actually believe that those particular trees here and the ones in the canyon came from Cabeswater. _Christ, how the hell is that even possible?_

You can’t just think about something.” He told Anne. “You have to know everything about it - how it looks, how it smells, how it sounds. You have to actually _feel_ it. Try for one of these.” He floated one of the dream lights toward her. She let it rest in her hands and watched it glow. Heeding Ronan’s advice, she held it up to her face, examining it closely and then rolled it around in her fingers. When she was finished, Anne tossed it up into the air back towards Ronan; it floated back to him, resting on his shoulder. 

Anne closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. She let out a deep breath, clearly trying to focus on the tiny glowing orb. After what felt like an eternity, but was likely only a minute, Anne opened her hands. Hovering above them was a small orb, glowing the same bright blue color of her dress. Her mouth quirked and she snatched it back into her hands. 

Ronan folded his arms, satisfied in the effectiveness of his instruction. He gave Anne a sly smile and said “Now, wake up.”

***********

When Ronan opened his eyes, Adam was sprawled out bare before him, one half of his face buried in his pillow. Ronan’s mind reeled as he went over what just happened in his dream. He had so many questions for Anne - when had she found out she could do what does? She said she didn’t know any Greywarens, did that mean neither of her parents were dreamers? He was so invigorated, he wanted to wake Adam and tell him everything, but Adam had spent so many years in sheer exhaustion that Ronan wouldn’t ever purposely take even a moment of sleep from him.

In the rare times Ronan woke up before Adam, he liked to study his face. The freckles on his skin, so light he only noticed them when he looked this closely. The arch of his eyebrows that matched the slender curve of his nose. The smooth perfection that was his lips. The building could be on fire and Ronan would still be distracted by Adam’s face. 

Ronan wasn’t conscious of his hands reaching out before he brushed his fingers over the soft curve from Adam’s shoulder down to the small of his back. Adam stirred at the touch, lifting his head from his pillow and revealing a sleepy smile and severe creases across the right side of his face. 

“You were so conked, I thought you might be fucking dead.” Ronan ran his hand through Adam’s hair, twisting some strands between his fingers. 

“At least I don’t snore!” Adam took a pillow and smacked Ronan in the face. 

Ronan wrestled the pillow out of Adam’s hand and threw it on the floor. He grabbed both of Adam’s wrists and pinned them to the bed. “I don’t fucking snore, asshole.” Adam’s eyes were pools with a tide that pulled Ronan into them.

Before Adam could retort, Ronan kissed him softly. “I met Anne,” he said immediately when he pulled away.

“You did what?” Adam said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “How?”

“There’s a place like Cabeswater here. I don’t think it existed the last time I dreamt here, but now that it does, it must have pulled me to it in my dreams.”

“So what happened?” Adam asked sitting up. He had bent his knees with his feet flat on the bed. He let his arms hang over them, as if he was trying to look casual. But his posture, rigid and tense, gave him away. “What did she say?”

“Ok, twenty fucking questions, chill.” Ronan pulled himself up to sit next to him. “She was trying to dream shit and was doing a fucking piss poor job of it. She was weeping all over the fucking place and I told her I was a Greywaren too and showed her how to actually fucking dream something. It was a nothing thing, but still, she did it.”

“But she showed me something she dreamed before. Why couldn’t she do it?”

“She dreamed that thing by accident. I used to do that all the fucking time when I was a kid. I’d wake up and something would just be there. As I got older, I was able to do it on purpose, but I had to learn how. She will too.”

“Jesus Christ,” Adam said, putting his head between his knees, hands on the back of his head as if bracing himself for the impact of this reality. “Guess there’s no keeping you from them anymore.”

“Good,” Ronan said. 

“Asshole,” Adam responded as if he was teasing, but Ronan could hear the worry in his voice. 

Ronan did the only thing he knew to do when Adam sounded like that. He grabbed Adam’s chin and pulled him in for a kiss. Adam’s body responded immediately, encouraging Ronan to continue on this path. 

They kissed while Ronan studied Adam’s body with his hands. Adam responded by rolling them both over and pushing Ronan down on the bed, running his hands down Ronan’s body. Adam’s touch drove Ronan out of his mind. All rational thought had stopped.

But Adam started slowly pulling away, each kiss getting shorter, until he sat up and said, “I need to go study.”

Ronan let out a groan and dramatically flopped back on the bed. He had expected that Adam would need to go, but he was still pissed. Not pissed at Adam, just pissed in general. He grabbed the back of Adam’s head and pulled him in for one last intense kiss. When they had stopped, Adam pulled back and stood up beside the bed. He ran his fingers through his hair, biting his lip and pacing back and forth. 

Ronan laid back on the bed again, this time with the goal of displaying everything Adam was leaving. It only took a moment before Adam jumped back on the bed, kissing Ronan again furiously. 

“Okay, okay,” he said as he pulled back once again and stood up. “I can’t be here with you.” He appeared to be moving away with all the self-control he could muster. Adam needing to physically remove himself from Ronan made his body ache. If Adam didn’t leave soon, neither of them could guarantee he would get out of this room for the rest of the day. 

“Oh, fuck it,” Adam gave in and collapsed onto the bed next to Ronan. Because he was still Adam, he looked over at the clock and said, “We have thirty minutes.”

Ronan felt a devious grin spread across his face as he pulled Adam toward him.

They indulged one another for about twenty minutes. When they were both able to stop and take a breath, Adam said, “We should try to find this other Cabeswater.”

“And we should bring Anne. It will be easier for her to learn to dream there,” Ronan suggested. 

“Ok,” Adam agreed. “I’ll call her and see if we can go later today.” 

Adam kissed Ronan again and his mind blurred white with light. They indulged themselves again for another five minutes before Adam insisted he leave for the library. Ronan didn’t fight this time, having had enough of Adam to dull his desire for the time being. Although, the satisfaction never lasted long before Ronan started to think about when, where and how he would get Adam alone again.

His mind was clear enough now to start thinking about his dream again. Ronan was glad he had met Anne, and even Stace, although their brief meeting had been unpleasant. It gave him faces to names, more information about the life that Adam was building here. He didn’t want to be separate from it. He wanted to be a part of it. 

Meeting Anne had the added complication of again knowing another Greywaren. Ronan had often wondered if there were others. His previous questions swirled in his mind again. A part of him hummed at the knowledge that he was no longer the only one in his world.

***********

It was lucky that Adam ran into Anne on the way to the library. If he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to her, his mind would have likely been distracted from his studies all morning. 

“Adam!” she said when she saw him walking up to her.

“I hear you met Ronan,” Adam said, getting straight to the point. “Did his advice help?”

She beamed and beckoned him to come very close to her, then pulled something out of her pocket, and held up a closed fist. After looking around and finding no one else on the quad this early in the morning, she opened her palm flat. A small blue light hovered above it. They both looked at it for only a moment before she closed her hand again and shoved the dream object back in her pocket. “I did that,” she said excitedly. “Can you believe it?” Her expression changed when she asked “Why didn’t you tell us about Ronan, Adam?”

When they had started the search for Glendower, Adam thought he had nothing to lose. The possibility of any gain was worth the risk. After they almost lost Gansey, after Ronan was almost unmade, Adam had realized he actually had everything to lose. And this felt true now more than ever. But Ronan clearly wanted to help Anne and exploring this line would likely help Gansey so Adam was going to put those doubts aside and do his best to awaken his dormant thirst for magical knowledge. 

“In the past, we’ve met some people who had unsavory intentions for people like Ronan, and you, Anne. I like you. I just hope you’ll be careful with this. I think there's a lot more going on here than your friends are telling us.”

“Adam,” Anne said gently, “Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. You can’t shut everyone out just on the chance they might hurt you or you might hurt them.”

Anne had only known him for a few short weeks and somehow had already figured him out. Even after everything he had been through, there was still part of him that was trying to be Adam Parrish, army of one. 

“Ronan wants to try to find your dream forest,” he changed the subject. “He thinks it will be easier to practice your dreaming there. Can you come with us to look this afternoon?”

“Ok, Adam,” she agreed, “but I’m bringing the others too. It’s time for us to trust each other.” 

That afternoon, Adam met Ronan at the B&B and they drove to Professor Solis’ house in the BMW. Ronan appeared to be a bit tense as he drove, likely a leftover reaction from the incident during his last visit. A feeling of uncertainty washed over Adam. They were both leaping into this. Whatever bubble they had created outside the magical world was about to be burst. 

***********

When Ronan and Adam pulled up to Professor Solis’ house, Anne and Stace were waiting outside. They were both bundled up for a walk in the winter woods. Anne was wearing a bright yellow puffy coat that made her look a bit like an elegant banana, hair tucked under a bright multi-colored winter hat. Stace’s army green coat was now offset by a bright orange hat and gloves. 

“Ronan!” Anne said as she draped her arms around him in a hug. Adam did his best to stifle a laugh at the horrified look on Ronan’s face. 

“Where’s Shane and Rhys?” Adam asked. 

“Shane went with Rhys on a trip for Rhys’ parents. There was some seller in Gardiner who said they had some sort of magic artifact,” Stace explained. “Rhys’ parents always have him verify those sorts of things.”

“So why are we here?” Ronan asked.

“The cave where Professor Solis found the book isn’t always where we last located it. We’re pretty sure it moves around the line. Shane says objects are more likely to move when they're near the ley line vortex. We think the last cave location is where we should start,” Anne explained. “Adam, you said Ronan thought it would be easier for me to dream if I'm near the dream forest, correct?”

Adam looked at Ronan for confirmation. “At least when you’re learning,” Ronan agreed. 

“Is Professor Solis home?” Adam asked. He had hoped to talk to her a bit more about the book and maybe even show it to Ronan.

“She’s still at school,” Stace said, eyeing Ronan suspiciously. “But she’s fine with us parking here.”

“Wait, before we go, here.” Anne pulled a couple of neon orange hats from the bag she was carrying. “You don’t want any hunters mistaking you for deer.”

Adam took one from Anne and shoved it on his head. It was knit cap that felt warm and snug on this head. Ronan just looked down at the other hat with disgust. The one she had left in her hand had a visor and ear flaps, the entire thing was so orange it would burn your eyes out if you looked at it too long. Adam couldn’t remember ever seeing Ronan in anything remotely resembling it, the loudest color he had ever seen him in was Aglionby navy. 

“I’ll pass.” Ronan waved it away, giving Anne his warning look. It was the one wild animals used to caution humans who might accidentally provoke an attack. 

“You’d rather have a bullet in you than wear that? Please.” Stace grumbled as she rolled her eyes at Ronan.

Anne was tall enough that she reached over and plopped it on Ronan’s head. “There,” she said, as she wiggled it down tight on his head. “Safety is cool.”

Adam winked at Ronan as he muttered, “Jesus fucking Christ.” For whatever reason, Anne appeared to be immune to the powers of Ronan Lynch. Adam loved it.

They rounded the white farmhouse and walked straight back through some hay fields toward a forest grove. Adam took out the compass that Ronan had given him. It reassuringly pointed in the direction they were walking.

They walked for about a mile. The sun was warm on Adam’s face, even though it was a cold December day. Their feet rustled through the fallen leaves as they walked through the bare trees. The trees varied from stark branches to full trees of evergreen. The entire landscape looked as though it was in the last moments before drifting off for a long winter’s sleep. 

Adam kept checking the compass as they followed Stace through the woods. It continued to point straight ahead. 

After another mile or two, Anne and Stace stopped. “It was here, I think,” Stace said. 

Anne nodded. “The last time we found it, it was about five minutes west of that huge broken stump we passed.”

This time when Adam took out the compass, it was spinning, an indication they were now on a line. But where the two lines intersected would be much more difficult to determine.

“So what do we do now?” Adam asked, feeling out of his depth. It was a long shot they would find the cave, but Adam didn’t have any ideas on how to proceed.

“We know this should be close,” Stace suggested, “so I think Anne should try here.”

“Worth a fucking shot,” Ronan agreed as he sat down on the ground. “Parrish, you could scry while we dream and see if you can find something.”

“I can help with that,” Stace agreed. 

Anne pulled out a royal purple blanket from the bag she had been carrying and spread it out over the fallen leaves. She and Ronan both laid down on the ground, forming a V shape on the cold winter ground. 

Adam sat down a few feet away from them, legs crossed. Stace sat down in front of him, her face apprehensive. “It will work better if we're touching,” she said as she took off her gloves and held her palms flat in front of Adam. 

Adam nodded and placed his palms against hers. They were soft, not at all unpleasant to the touch. Still, making physical contact with Stace felt dangerous. He thought about the ways she had instructed him to control his mind. When he had talked to Blue about their practicing, she said it sounded a lot like what Maura had told her to do to cut off her energy: imagine a boundary, a wall, a shield around those parts of himself. Adam's essence was a bright ball of energy that was his own, not anyone else’s. He still had a tendency to turn inward; it took practice to turn his focus and push the energy outward. 

It didn’t take long for Adam and Stace to be in the dream with Ronan and Anne, except they weren’t exactly _with_ them. It was more like they were _beside_ them. It was another location in the forest, one with a large sloping hill and rather peculiar looking round boulders. Anne and Ronan appeared to be pulling on one of the trees together, spinning some sort of material from vines that hung from its branches. 

Stace waved Adam away from them. “I think it’s this way. That tree looks familiar.” It was a large oak tree whose trunk had spilt into two branches only a few feet off the ground. The enormous V shape was notable. 

The ground started changing as they walked. Instead of dirt and leaves, the ground was pocked by smooth pebbles of varying colors and shapes. Blues, reds, and greens, all of a earthen hue, but still unlike colors Adam would typically find on a forest floor. They were like a trail of breadcrumbs leading them to an unknown destination. The density of the stones increased along the path until they covered the entire ground. The rocks glinted with a reflective sheen that acted like a beacon, directing them to what lay beyond them - a large archway made by massive trees. Adam had seen trees grow this way around roads or powerlines, nature accommodating the energy around it. But these were different. They not only bent around this archway, the branches were intertwined into one another. 

Neither of them spoke as Adam and Stace walked through the vine covered archway. Adam’s skin tingled with the mystical energy of this spot. It felt _holy_. He was afraid of making any noise on the chance that he might somehow scare the magic away. The light shining through the natural lattice scattered over the ground. The trees above reached high into the sky, creating a cathedral of branches and leaves. 

They came to the end of the corridor, abruptly stopped by a door. Adam reached out to push it open, but it did not move. It was not made of wood as he had expected, but intricately woven sticks and vines. In the center of the door: an unmistakable raven figure, wings spread in flight.

Adam considered trying to shove it open with his shoulder, but thought better of it. Stace must have considered something similar because she said quietly, “I don’t think we can force it open. It will open when this place wants it to.” 

Adam stared at the door. It felt like it led to somewhere important. A door was meant to be opened, wasn’t it? But he nodded to Stace and they went back the way they came.

When Stace and Adam came out of the archway, there was a cave to the left where only trees had been standing before. Stace punched Adam in the arm, “That’s it!” she said.

Adam abruptly snapped back to his body, he and Stace facing one another wide-eyed. Anne and Ronan were still peacefully laying on the ground next to them. 

He jumped to his feet, wondering if the cave would still be where they had found it. He offered his hand to Stace, and they both started off in a run. It was only a few minutes before they found the tree with the gigantic V shaped trunks. And only a few minutes more when they found the pebble trail, the statuesque tree archway and the ominous cave. Adam briefly considered trying the door again, but the cave might not stay in this location for long. If they wanted to find the vortex, going inside the cave was their only lead.

“I’ll go first. I’ve been in here before,” Stace offered. Adam gestured for her to lead the way.

Adam had been in a surprising number of caves in the last few years. This one was as dark and dank as all the others, sloping downward at an easy grade that invited its guests to stride causally inward. He took out a flashlight from his jacket pocket and clicked it on, the glow illuminating stalactites and stalagmites jutting toward the center. Once they hit the lowest point of the slope, the tunnel shot off in two directions. 

“We found the book in one of these caverns," Stace told him. "Hard to say which—sometimes there's only one cavern, sometimes two, sometimes more.” 

Adam took out his compass. The dial was still spinning wildly. They had to be near the vortex. “How many times have you been down here?” 

“Dozens of times. And every time is different.”

“Stace,” Adam said, trying to figure out the best way to phrase what he wanted to say next, “Do the others know that waking the line requires a sacrifice?” He thought of Barrington Whelk betraying Noah for the power of the line, his stomach flopping at the possibility of history repeating itself. 

“I haven’t told them yet. I was trying to figure out what it could be. And I’ve decided. I want to sacrifice my power,” Stace said. “I thought about your sacrifice. And giving up my powers is something that would be a loss. Even if it is something I want, I still think it will work.” 

Adam wasn’t so sure. Loss of powers could definitely be a sacrifice for some people, but considering how badly Stace seemed to want to get rid of them, it didn't seem like much of one for her. These things never seemed to go as one would expect. He also knew from his vision that either Shane or Rhys were willing to kill over it. This made Stace’s dubious plan even more risky. 

“Will the others agree to that?” he asked.

“They listen to me. If I tell them that’s what I see, they’ll go along with it.” There was no hesitation or concern in her voice. He could tell she would tell them what she need to in order to get what she wanted. 

They chose the left side tunnel and continued on. After only a few feet, Adam tripped on a tree root and caught himself on the cave wall. He thought of Gansey falling into the hole in the Cabeswater cave and took his steps a bit lighter, shifting his gaze to the ground. If it was dangerous, Stace wouldn’t have barrelled them into it, would she? 

As he was scanning the ground, a small glint of light caught his eye. “Hold on,” he said to Stace as he bent over. The object that had reflected off his flashlight was small and silver. When he picked it up and held it under the light, Adam discovered that it was a small raven, sculpted in profile, wings high as if it was about to take flight, tiny red eye, glinting with menace. 

Stace took it, looking it over intently. “I can’t feel anything here,” she said handing it back to Adam. “I’ll have to try to read it again outside of here. Didn’t find anything like this in these tunnels before. Maybe we missed it. Or maybe someone else has been here.”

Adam put the small raven in his pocket and continued on down the path after Stace. The adrenaline of finding the cave was beginning to wear off and now he felt less sure of what they were doing there. “What do we do if we find the vortex? And how will we know we found it? We woke our line by accident. It wasn’t like we knew what we were doing.”

“I’ve been reading the cards a lot lately. They said someone will wake the lines at a time of new beginnings. I think that means spring. The ceremony requires a certain type of energy to not go wrong. I still think it will be us who wakes it, but the cards say that is unclear. There are definitely others trying to wake it. I think you knew the right spot and circumstance to make the sacrifice before and you’ll know it again. You’re the key to this, Adam.” 

Adam wasn’t interested in being a key to anything at this particular moment.

They had only moved a few hundred yards when suddenly the ground shook beneath their feet. Dirt rained down from the ceiling above them. They braced themselves against the walls as the shaking intensified. A large cracking sound started coming from the side of the tunnel where Stace was standing. Adam thought about grabbing Stace’s arm and pulling her toward him, but he twisted his ankle on a rock and fell to the ground. Still, Stace was somehow flung against the Adam’s side of the cave. Sprawled on the ground, they both watched as a crack slowly broke through the rock and then split wide open. Adam’s head swam. It felt like an extreme version of when Noah would appear. One minute Noah wasn’t there, the next he was and your brain had skipped over the point in between. This time, Adam’s brain must have taken a ten mile leap because he and Stace were now at the edge of a gigantic canyon. Adam pulled himself up to stand, his legs and brain a bit wobbly. 

“What the hell just happened?” he asked Stace.

“I have no effing idea,” she said, her voice just as dazed. 

“If we try to sense together could we find out?” 

She shook her head, “I don’t think so. This place is...foggy.” 

Adam knew exactly what she meant. It was how most places on ley lines looked to psychics most of the time. Except, Adam had seen this place before. He felt sick. This was the vortex.

Adam flinched at another skittering sound. A few larger rocks came rolling out of a tunnel that connected to the vast cavern. He put his hand against the walls, trying to steady himself. The ledge they were standing on was fairly wide, but Adam still felt if he let go he might follow the rocks down into the abyss.

As the rock slide stopped, three figures emerged from the tunnel. The first was slouched and thin, the second square and tall, the last large and intimidating. “Don’t move,” the last figure demanded. As they came closer, it was clear that the first two figures had their arms raised and the last had a gun. 

Adam’s mouth went dry. He raised his hands, “Look, we don’t want any trouble.”

“No, Mr. Parrish? I suppose trouble always finds you.” Adam now recognized the voice. 

“Mr. Gray?” He was probably the last person Adam had expected to see here.

Adam let his arms relax and shifted his flashlight to the others. Rhys and Shane stood before them, covered in dirt. 

“Shane? Rhys?” Stace’s voice sounded scared. “What’s going on?”

“Of course you know these gentlemen.” Mr. Gray sounded amused. “And where is Mr. Lynch?” 

“Outside this cave, where I would very much like to be.” Adam’s voice was cool.

“Fair point, Mr. Parrish. How about we all leave together and have a little chat?”

***********


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam and Ronan find out why Mr. Gray is there. Hot stuff in a car happens.

The group made its way out of the cave following the same passage that Stace and Adam had followed in. The group kept silent, tense with the implied threat of Mr. Gray’s gun. Adam was unnerved, but not scared. Mr. Gray was a weapon; he had killed Ronan’s father, a fact that Adam would not let himself forget. But he was also a sensible man who loved Blue and Maura. What was important to them was important to Mr. Gray, and he knew Adam and Ronan were Blue’s family.

When they all were outside and a safe distance from falling rubble, Adam started to dust himself off. Dirt covered him from head to toe. The group looked like a weary team of coal miners. In the sunlight, Adam could see a gash over Shane’s eyebrow and a cut on Rhys’ lip.

“Is the gun necessary?” Adam asked.

“Ask your new friends.” Mr. Gray motioned to the two boys, both looking an equal combination of angry and fearful.

“Shane said he thought you and Anne were in danger,” Rhys said to Stace.

“I saw a gun in my vision,” Shane mumbled. 

“So when we found a man with a gun we thought he had you and we tried to disarm him,” Rhys continued.

Shane added, “We were unsuccessful.” 

“Clearly.” Adam tried not to laugh at the idea of these two trying to take down Mr. Gray. He couldn’t decide if it was brave or stupid. Probably both.

“Truce?” The Gray Man asked as he held up the gun by the handle and then skillfully slid it into the back of his pants.

The boys nodded, defeated.

Now that this discussion had de-escalated, Adam asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Seondeok and I have been cleaning up the magic collector business. Once Laumonier went into hiding, it was fairly easy for us to set a new standard. Only a few people needed some _convincing_ ,” Mr. Gray explained. “But something has been happening here. There have been some powerful magical objects surfacing, which has caused some unfortunate violence after months of peace. I decided it was time to investigate.”

“What kind of objects?” Adam wondered.

“It’s crass, but a literal money tree has caused the most problems. It was found about a mile from here.” Money was no longer something Adam was desperate for, but a few years earlier, he might have been tempted. He could understand an object like that causing some problems. “I should have known you and Mr. Lynch were somehow involved.”

“Rhys? Are you ok?” Anne’s voice interrupted their reunion. She ran up to him, checking him over before turning her attention to Shane, inspecting his cut. “What happened?”

Ronan stood behind her, his look complicated. “Gray, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“Good to see you too, Mr. Lynch.” He nodded.

“We were trying to find you in the cave and we ran into some trouble,” Rhys said.

“We felt the ground shake, but I thought it was part of the dream.”

“You were dreaming?” Rhys asked her. She nodded vigorously, her eyes shining. “Ronan’s another Greywaren.” Ronan slyly waved at the newcomers, his grin threatening. “He teaching me. It’s amazing! In my dream, I created an entire canyon!” 

“Um,” Adam broke in, “I don’t think it was just in your dream. I think you found the vortex.”

After a few introductions, they made their way back to Professor Solis’ house in scattered groups. 

“Mr. Gray said there have been random dream objects found around here,” Adam explained to Ronan. “Do you think Anne is dreaming them?”

Ronan was still looking cautiously at Mr. Gray. Their truce always felt a bit precarious. “Either Anne is dreaming them or they're products of the dream forest in some way. Like how Blue and Gansey could create things in Cabeswater. I suspect this place works in the same way.”

That thought hadn’t even occurred to Adam. Mr. Gray appeared to be considering this. “Well, if that is the case, you are likely to have more undesirable characters milling about.” 

“I could work with Anne to try to protect this place, like I did with Cabeswater, but it’s not fucking easy. It will take time.” Despite suggesting it, Ronan’s expression made it clear that he didn’t really think this was the answer. 

And Adam knew it too. “I’m not sure that will stop anyone who is really determined. I think we just need to all be cautious.”

When they arrived back at the farmhouse, the red front door was open. Adam had hoped he’d have a chance to talk to Professor Solis about the raven he found. “Mr. Gray, I’d like you and Ronan to meet someone.”

Adam waited to see if the rest of the study group would join him. Anne continued to fuss over Rhys and Shane. “Let’s get you both some antiseptic and some bandages,” she suggested. 

Adam walked with Mr. Gray and Ronan to the door and knocked. After a few moments, Professor Solis came to the door. “Salve, Adam! You brought friends?” Then she looked at Mr. Gray and exclaimed, “Dean! I can’t believe it is fuckin’ you!”

Adam and Ronan looked at one another and mouthed _Dean?_ simultaneously. 

“Edith!” The Gray Man's normal level demeanor had vanished. The two embraced, clearly old friends reunited. “I had no idea this was your house. I apologize for the intrusion.”

“Not at all, Dean. Please come in,” she said, inviting the entire group inside. “And who is this young gentleman?” Professor Solis asked as she offered Ronan her hand. 

“This is my boyfriend, Ronan,” Adam said, putting his hand on Ronan’s shoulder. 

“Hi, uh…” Ronan’s first reaction to authority figures was typically disdain, but he knew Adam respected Professor Solis, which meant he likely had no idea how to treat her.

“Edith,” she offered.

“Edith,” he repeated. “Nice to meet you.”

“Come in, come in," she said, motioning them all into the living room. “Tea? Coffee?”

Both Ronan and Adam shook their heads, but Mr. Gray obligingly said, “I’d love some tea. Do you have earl gray?”

“Of course.” Professor Solis smiled. “The rest of you know where everything is, feel free to help yourselves,” she said as she went to the kitchen. 

Anne paused her fussing over Rhys and Shane long enough to go get a first aid kit. The two of them sat on the couch, still suspiciously eyeing Mr. Gray. 

Stace stood at the doorway, watching the entire scene. “So you know Edith?” she asked Mr. Gray.

“Yes, she and I had some brief encounters at a few lectures when I was a historian, in my other life. Classical and medieval history is often housed in the same academic department in small colleges. At the time, we were part of a fringe group who believed in magical historical artifacts, so we often found ourselves part of the same circle. I knew she was still teaching. I didn’t realize she was still collecting. At least that is my assumption, seeing that she is involved in your group’s efforts.” 

“Indeed, I am,” Professor Solis said, coming back into the room. “You wouldn’t believe the fucking things I’ve found since we used to hypothesize their existence. Most people still treat us like quacks. It's amazing how strong denial can be when something calls into question what people believe to be true at their very core. But when we wake the lines, no one will be able to deny that magic is real.”

“Ah,” said Mr. Gray. “Is that what's happening here, Edith? Because there are some people out there who might not be interested in this for purely academic reasons.”

But Edith's attention had shifted to Rhys and Shane. “Wait, what happened to the two of you?” 

“He did,” Rhys mumbled, nodding toward Mr. Gray, an ice pack on his bottom lip.

“Misunderstanding,” Mr. Gray admitted. “But there are others out there who might not be as nice. I’m concerned for the well-being of these children.”

“Children!” Stace spat. “I’ve seen things that would probably turn you green. Don’t condescend to us. We know what we’re doing.”

“So I suppose Mr. Parrish has told you what happened in Henrietta then? People die when they screw around with this magic.”

“We’re not idiots.” She answered, folding her arms.

“If we don’t do it, someone else will. And our visions say the results won’t be good.” Shane’s expression looked more severe than usual with a bandage on the top part of his eye, his glasses awkwardly sitting over it.

“Look, Mr. Gray, we get what you are saying. I didn’t tell any of them that Ronan is a Greywaren because I know what kind of people are out there. But we have to work together to figure this out because it seems other people have already been to the vortex.” Adam put his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small silver raven. “We found this in the cave.”

“You’re another Greywaren? That’s fucking amazing!” Professor Solis said to Ronan, looking at him with the same intellectual curiosity she demonstrated when inspecting dream objects. “Anne, you must be thrilled!”

Anne broke a smile. “Ronan has already been a great teacher.”

“It was fucking nothing,” Ronan said, actually looking a little embarrassed. 

“Stace, have you read this?” Professor Solis asked as she took the object from Adam. 

She shook her head, “I wasn’t able to get a reading while on the vortex. Everything was blurry there.”

“Try again,” she said, handing it to Stace.

Stace held it in her palm and closed her eyes. Her eyes twitched back and forth behind their lids for a few moments before she said, “Yes, someone was in that cave recently. A few weeks ago. She was wearing this and dropped it.”

“Can you tell who it is?” Adam asked. 

“She’s wearing a black cloak. There’s some sort of magic on this. It's blocking her face.”

Adam walked over to Stace and gently placed his hand on Stace’s wrist, then motioned to Rhys and Shane to join them. When the four of them were connected, Adam closed his eyes and saw what Stace saw. People chanting by candlelight, all in black cloaks, appearing to be participating in some strange religious ceremony. 

Stace gasped. “There’s hundreds of them. They’re the same group that was in Glendower’s tomb - the Order of the Ravens.” Stace opened her eyes. 

Mr. Gray walked over and took the object from Stace. He twisted it in his fingers as he looked it over. “The Order of the Ravens. There’s been some talk, but I thought it was only rumors.” He looked up at them and handed the raven back to Adam. “I’ve seen hundreds of fantastical objects. All amazing, but seemingly random occurrences, without any plan or meaning. Happenstance of life, like the rest of nature. But supposedly the Order believes that magic has come to this world for a purpose and that those with magic should rule those without. It just always sounded like a ghost story people in the magical objects business told one another to scare off the meek at heart. The Order were zealots who would do anything it took to get what they wanted and make us all bend to their will if they found us trying to own what they deemed to belong to their domain. They were bogeymen, not something real.”

“Well, they looked real to me,” Adam said throwing the raven up in the air and catching it. 

“Look,” Rhys said, finally seeming to regain some composure, “Stace said the line waking is likely to happen in the spring. Most of us have obligations that take us away from here in the next few weeks, anyway. I say that those of us around keep doing scouting missions to see if we can find out more about the Order or find the vortex consistently. And we agree that no one goes out there alone.”

“Fine,” Adam agreed and the rest of the group nodded. 

“There’s one more thing,” Stace added. “To wake the line, we need a sacrifice.”

“Like a human sacrifice?” Anne’s voice was chilled.

“Actually, when Adam woke the line--” Stace looked over at him. “--he sacrificed a piece of himself. I’ve been thinking about this and I’m going to sacrifice my powers.”

Ronan looked up at the ceiling at the mention of Adam’s sacrifice to Cabeswater. This motion turned into a lean against the wall, eyes closed, arms crossed. But Adam was sure he was still listening to the conversation. Ronan had a particular way of looking disinterested when he held the greatest interest. 

“That’s crazy,” Shane answered immediately.

“I’m sure there’s another way,” Rhys said in agreement. 

“We want this to work,” Stace was firm. “This is the best way. It’s what I see happening. If we can wake the line, you won’t need me anymore.” Adam knew she was stretching the truth here, but he didn’t have any better ideas. His sacrifice to Cabeswater came to him in the moment. When he really thought about it, he believed that the true sacrifice to this line would happen the same way. Ley line magic didn’t care what your plans were. 

Rhys sighed and flinched as he touched his lip. “Let’s continue this discussion when we all aren’t so _disheveled_.” He said the word with distaste in his voice. “I think we could all use some rest.”

“Professor Solis, can we show Ronan and Mr. Gray—er, Dean, the book?” Adam asked.

“Of course, I’d fucking love to!” she said. 

The others excused themselves while Adam, Mr. Gray and Ronan went to the barn. Adam explained to Ronan and Mr. Gray what Stace had shown him when she touched the book.

“You saw the loon in your vision? And Blue’s tree daddy?” Ronan asked.

“Yeah, it was mostly stuff that we had been told before, although it was strange to actually see it. But I do think the story in the text claimed Gwenllian was part of the Order.” 

“Then, I think it might be worth it if I try to question her.” Mr. Gray offered.

Ronan shook his head. “Good fucking luck with that.” 

“Perhaps that trinket might jog a memory. Mr. Parrish, would you trust me to borrow it and return it to you in Henrietta?’

Adam looked at Ronan and then pulled the raven out of his pocket and handed it to Mr. Gray.

“Professor Solis, in terms of the text,” Adam said. “I think it would be helpful to get a few translations. I’d like to give Gansey, our friend who can read Middle Welsh, a shot at translating this. Could we take some photos of it?”

“Adam, I’m a historian. I’ve, of course, already done that,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief at his underestimation of her. 

“Would you be willing to give them to us?” It was valuable find—even the photographic evidence would have value and he wasn’t sure if she would be willing to put it out into the world. 

“Shane has translated some of it, and I have the rest out to a translator. But it's hundreds of pages so it will likely to be months before I get much back from her. I’m unable to work fully on my article until I have it. So, if your friend is willing to send me his translations, I’m willing to share photos of the text.”

“I’m fairly fucking certain that can be arranged,” Ronan agreed.

“Fucking excellent. Consensus ad idem,” she said offering Adam her hand.

“Bona fide,” Adam responded and shook her hand.

***********

“What the fuck is that white shit out there?” Ronan was shaking his head and stomping his feet at the entrance of Adam’s room.

“It’s called snow, Ronan,” Adam corrected. “I think it's kind of cool. I’ve never seen this much before.” There had been a large snow storm two weeks ago that already melted. People said it was early for a storm that size, but it did happen occasionally. Except today was the third large storm in the last few days. _Weather anomalies_ , Adam thought. His encounter with the vortex had made him start seeing signs everywhere.

“I don’t know why anyone would fucking choose to live in this shit,” Ronan grumbled. 

“I guess some of us are just masochists,” Adam said, eyes still on his books. 

Ronan threw his jacket on the floor, kicked off his boots, and sat down on the bed behind Adam. “You fucking love it, Parrish,” he said, sliding his arms around Adam’s shoulders. 

“Yes, I do, Lynch,” Adam said, absentmindedly as he turned to the next page. 

“I thought you said you were ready for a break. That’s why I traipsed out here in this crap,” Ronan had buried his head in the crook of Adam’s neck, his words tickled as they vibrated on his shoulder. 

Adam squirmed. “Almost, almost—” he paused. “There, okay. Let’s go.”

“Go?” Ronan had clearly not anticipated having to go anywhere. “Go where?”

“To the BMW.” Adam put on his boots and coat. 

“We’re not going to drive in this shit, Parrish.”

“Ronan Lynch afraid of driving. I think you have to officially turn in your badass badge.”

“I’m not afraid, I’m just not particularly interested in driving the BMW around this fucking place for no good goddamn reason.” Adam just stood there with his arms crossed. “Fine. Where are we going?”

“I’ll show you.” Adam grabbed his keys and headed out the door. 

The first time Adam drove in this much snow it had been a bit of a shock. People drove incredibly slow and even when you thought you were being careful, you slid. His heart had almost beat out of his chest the few times he had to swerve hard. He knew Ronan would love it. 

Ronan grumbled a bit when Adam got into the driver seat. He slumped in the passenger side, shoved the heat up to max level and moved the vents to blast air on his face, making a big show of being annoyed. But he still let Adam lace their fingers together so Adam knew he wasn’t actually angry. 

Adam had taken some drives throughout the semester when he had to clear his head. He felt closer to Ronan when he drove the BMW, and at least part of Adam had been daring the black sedan driver to come after what he and Ronan both assumed was the real target - him. 

Off one of the rural routes, there was an old discount outlet store that had closed up. The lights were no longer lit in the parking lot, which was large and hadn't been plowed recently. On a recent drive, Adam had pulled in to turn around and discovered the potential of a snow covered lot. 

This time, he pulled into the lot and slammed on the gas while he turned the wheel hard to the left. The car skidded and spun out. Adam let go of the gas and the car slid to a stop. 

“What the fuck, Parrish,” Ronan’s chest was heaving, but when Adam looked over, his grin was wicked. 

Adam beamed. He felt alive and free. “Wanna try?”

“Fuck yes,” Ronan responded as he climbed out of the car. 

They both hustled around the car to switch seats, their bodies temporarily blocking the glow from the headlights. Ronan waited until Adam buckled his seatbelt again - they might be reckless, but they weren’t morons - then revved the engine. The tires skidded and Adam rolled down the window. The air was biting. Fearless, he yelled into the night, “WOOOOHHOOOOO!”

Ronan spun them so hard and so fast, Adam thought he might get sick. Just when Adam couldn’t take it anymore, Ronan slid the car to the edge of the parking lot and turned it off. 

For a moment, all Adam could hear was their heavy breathing in a synchronized rhythm. Adam let out a wicked laugh. Without a word, Ronan grabbed Adam’s coat by the collar and pulled him in for the most ferocious kiss he had ever experienced. Adam thought that Ronan might have actually bitten his lip. Adam let out a groan; he had lost all self-control.

Ronan pushed Adam back against the passenger window with his entire body, somehow maneuvering his own legs into the back seat at the same time. Ronan still had him by the coat collar and when he leaned back, he pulled Adam right along with him. Adam followed gladly, grabbing the headrests of both front seats to push himself to the back. 

Ronan only stopped kissing him for a moment to pull off Adam’s jacket and throw it in the front seat. Adam followed his lead and helped Ronan pull off his as well. Ronan was moving so furiously, Adam was surprised none of their clothing ripped. 

He had always appreciated Ronan’s care with him, but this sudden burst of depravity drove him wild. He envisioned pouring all he was feeling into Ronan. 

Ronan continued to push his entire body against Adam. He dragged his teeth over Adam’s neck and bared his teeth against Adam’s chest. 

Adam ran his hands all over Ronan. “Fuck,” Ronan whispered when Adam found the right spot. “Fuck, fuck,” he breathed. 

The pressure, the build up, it was all too much. Adam wasn’t sure if his heart could take it. He wanted this feeling to last forever, but he knew it wouldn’t. It couldn’t. He couldn’t stand it. Neither of them could. Their bodies shook with desire, with need, and then with satisfaction. 

“Oh Jesus, Mary, fuck, Adam,” Ronan exclaimed, his chest heaving. 

Adam caught his own breath. “Well, I guess that’s good company to be includ-”

Ronan cut him off with a soft, slow, more Ronan-like kiss. “I guess the fucking snow is all right.” 

***********


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam and Ronan head back to Virginia during Adam's winter break. They reunite with Blue and Gansey and remember Noah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love to my marathon beta-ers! They keep going with me!

Adam finished his finals without incident. Calculus took the full three hours, but he felt good about the exam. His first semester of college was over. It was still hard to believe that he was living this life. It had been so hard for so long, he often felt undeserving. But that feeling was slowly withering away as Adam got better at not feeding it.

A sense of quiet and calm washed over him during most of the drive to Henrietta. Ronan drove the BMW with the same intensity and adoration he saved for the most important people in his life. While he was driving, Adam slept and wrote out theories in his notebook and sometimes just watched Ronan. While Adam drove, Ronan made playlists on his phone and used some sort of dream object to play them through the car speakers. Adam used to watch Ronan walk through life and long for a time when money was no longer a limiting factor for him. What he didn’t realize at the time was that the only limitation for Ronan was his imagination. Not for the first time, he thought that must be incredibly freeing and crushingly overwhelming all at once. A gift and a burden.

The coming weeks would be relaxing. They were all going to celebrate their first Christmas at the Barns, a holiday that had made Adam feel stressed and worried in the past, but that he now looked forward to warmly, most likely due to the events of the previous Christmas. 

Last Christmas had been strange. It had only been weeks after the demon, weeks after Gansey made his sacrifice. None of them had felt much like celebrating. Adam had never really understood the point of Christmas anyway. 

On Christmas Eve, Ronan spent some time at church and then they all gathered at 300 Fox Way and had pies and music and even some laughter. Ronan had yet to go back to the Barns after his mother’s death. He hadn’t been ready. But Adam knew it was only a matter of time. The Barns was in Ronan’s blood. The two of them spent that Christmas Eve together at St. Agnes instead. He woke with his arms wrapped tightly around Ronan’s waist. 

Adam remembered feeling anxious about the gift aspect of Christmas. He’d been working on accepting gifts, something he still struggled with, but he also had trouble with the whole act of giving something to someone. What if they didn’t like it? It wasn’t likely that they would throw it in his face, like his father had done time and time again, but still, that part of Adam hadn’t gone completely quiet. At that point in time, he’d just wanted to avoid the whole thing all together.

And even though Ronan made it clear he thought Adam’s struggle with taking things from him boiled down to him being stubborn, when they woke up that morning, he’d pulled his tight black t-shirt off and handed it to Adam. “Merry Christmas,” he said.

Adam was momentarily distracted by the curls of Ronan’s tattoo across his shoulders. He met Ronan’s gaze and raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of what was happening. “But I didn’t get you anything.” Adam’s voice sounded sly and teasing, but there was a piece of him that felt tied in knots.

“Fuck, Parrish, everything is so difficult with you,” Ronan shook his head. “Just give me one of yours.”

Ronan held his hand out and beckoned, the universal sign for _hand it over_. Adam got up and went to grab a t-shirt from his drawer, but before Adam noticed him moving, Ronan was behind him pushing it shut. 

Adam felt Ronan’s breath on the back of his neck. “No, this one,” Ronan said as he pulled Adam’s white t-shirt off him. The tone in Ronan’s voice made Adam go limp. He would’ve given him anything in that moment, anything at all. 

They were both shirtless, a fact that Adam couldn’t stop thinking about. When Adam turned, there was a heat in Ronan’s eyes that Adam hadn’t seen before. Ronan threw the shirt over his shoulder and wrapped his arms around Adam. Skin on skin, hands on hips and lips on flesh.

Ronan had been very quiet and forlorn the weeks before. It was the first time since the night they’d first kissed that he’d truly seemed alive. 

That’s when he’d realized that the most difficult gift for Adam to give was himself. And, if the person was truly deserving, something as simple as a t-shirt could feel like everything. 

It had been Adam’s best Christmas.

Adam felt warm with the memory of that time. And this year, they would be spending the holiday with his found family. He couldn’t imagine anything better.

***********

They were only a few miles out from the Barns. The familiar landscape stirred an unfamiliar feeling in Adam, a wistful longing for times past, when he, Ronan, Gansey, Blue and Noah had been a five-headed creature. Thinking of Noah gave him a dull twinge of sadness. His disappearance had felt right at that time; he had been ready to be put to rest. But it didn’t mean they didn’t miss him. 

The warmth of the farmhouse hit Adam as it appeared around the bend. Was this what home felt like? The idea would once have felt strange and incongruous, but without him even realizing it, the Barns had seeped inside him. A part of Adam now resided here, and reuniting with it felt as though he was finally breathing fully for the first time in months.

“Is Opal here?” he asked Ronan as he gathered his things. The possibility of seeing her made his heart burst with happiness. 

“She’s coming with Declan and Matthew on Monday.”

For a moment, Adam was overwhelmed with the vision of Opal holding Ronan, tears on her cheeks, tiny fingers rolling his leather wristbands between her fingers. There were no words in what he saw, but Adam knew those tears were for him. Adam’s heart now felt like it was breaking. He had never wanted to cause Opal any pain. 

Adam’s sadness and disappointment mixed to create a decidedly morose feeling. Being at the Barns with Ronan but without Opal was like thinking you were about to complete a puzzle only to find the very last piece missing. 

Only a few more days. Adam could wait a bit longer to see her. Ronan must have been able to tell Adam was disappointed because he gently nudged his shoulder with a fist and softly said, “C’mon.”

When Adam walked in the front door of the house, he smelled the familiar scents of dirt and burnt wood and something new - evergreen. Opal must have insisted on decorating before she left. There was a huge tree in the living room covered in all manner of beautiful floating lights and shiny dream ornaments. Strewn throughout the incandescent glow were construction paper cutouts of hearts and stars, clearly of Opal’s creation.

There were five handmade stockings hung over the fireplace. Adam suspected this was also Opal’s doing, since there appeared to be one for each of their make-shift family: Ronan, Opal, Adam, Matthew and even Declan. His mouth quirked at this. 

Ronan came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Adam’s waist, leaning his face against his neck. He breathed deeply as he tightened his grasp. 

“Hey,” Adam said while gently pulling away. “I’ve got something for you.” He'd been anxious about giving Ronan his gift from the moment he had gotten it. The worst thing he could imagine was having to give it to him in front of everyone else. He wanted to do it now and get it over with. 

“I know Christmas is a few days away, but…” Adam began while he shoved an awkwardly wrapped gift towards Ronan, “here.”

Ronan sat down on the couch and carefully handled the package. Adam stood above him, doing his best to not nervously bite his lip. He knew this shouldn’t be a big deal anymore, but he couldn’t change how he felt. Too many bad feelings were twisted up in it. Pulling the threads apart would take more time.

Ronan carefully pulled back the paper. Inside were two items: a college t-shirt with _Bates_ written in block letters across it and a book, _Through the Looking Glass_. 

“I know,” Adam said, giving in to his urgent need to explain, “a t-shirt and a book. Really original of me.” Ronan was shifting the book in his hands, looking at every edge then flipping through the pages. Ronan Lynch was so careful with fragile things. “Since _Alice in Wonderland_ was one of your Dad’s favorite books to read to you when you were a kid, I thought maybe _Through the Looking Glass_ could be ours with Opal. It’s a cool illustrated version from the 30’s.”

“And the t-shirt.” Now Adam was babbling, but he couldn’t stop himself, “That was my favorite shirt to wear this semester and I just wanted you to have it. I know I gave you one before, but I really liked the idea of you wearing a shirt with my school’s name on it. I know it really isn’t your thing so you don’t have to -” 

Ronan abruptly stopped Adam’s soliloquy by standing up and kissing him deeply, forcing Adam’s whole body to relax into him. Adam was starting to recognize that this was Ronan’s very expedient way to get him to slow down. 

“I have something for you too,” Ronan said as he pulled away. He grabbed Adam’s hand and brought him into the hallway. Adam wasn’t sure where Ronan was taking him, but he enjoyed passing the familiar spots in the house, the window looking out into the back yard and the kitchen full of dream gadgets. Still clasping Adam’s hand, Ronan led him into the sitting room. Except, it didn’t look much like a sitting room anymore. The walls were covered with bookshelves, floor to ceiling. They were mostly empty, but there were a few books scattered throughout. To the right of the room, there were two big comfy chairs with a reading lamp in between them. The desk had been cleared and given a more prominent spot. There was a transparent plastic desk blotter that had a number of Opal’s drawings under it. A framed picture of Opal stood on the corner. 

Adam just stood there, only moving to shift his gaze around the room while he took it all in. “What is this?” he asked.

Ronan smiled the most genuine, warm smile Adam had ever seen come from Ronan Lynch. “It’s your library.”

“My library?” Adam was dumbstruck. 

“Jesus Parrish, I wanted you to have something of your own here,” Ronan said. “I know you don’t live here now, but this isn’t just my home. It’s _our_ home.”

Ronan’s words wrapped around Adam and held him tight. “Wait, you built these?” he asked, running a finger along one of the shelves.

“What the fuck do you think, Parrish?” he snapped, but in a typical Ronan way. “I figured you could do your smart shit in here. Scribble your theories and somehow find a way to do fucking homework on your winter break. Don’t pretend like you didn’t plan to.”

Adam started to protest, but he’d actually brought some reading from his spring classes with him to try to get a head start. Adam felt angry and terrified and amazed at how well Ronan knew him. 

“You’ll need to keep buying your fucking precious books to fill these,” Ronan said, knocking one of the shelves with his knuckle. “You think you can handle that?”

“Fuck, Ronan,” Adam’s voice was awed as he shook his head in disbelief. “I gave you a book and you gave me a library.”

“Adam.” Ronan’s voice was careful, but stern. “Don’t be a jackass.”

Adam knew what Ronan meant. They’d had conversations like this before. Conversations when Adam felt like it was all too much. The walls started to close in and he wanted to push it all away. 

But Adam had learned to recognize this reaction. It was a feeling left over from years ago, wrapped up in the fear of being inadequate and found lacking. When Adam was able to think it through, he could acknowledge it and put it aside. 

This gift was the manifestation of everything Adam knew to be true. Now he had something of his very own here. _Home._

***********

The next day, Adam decided to take advantage of the quiet and read in the library. He felt so relaxed while poring over some research Professor Solis had given him. He was trying to find out more details about what would actually happen if they found Excalibur. And he wondered- could the doorway they found in Anne’s forest lead to where it is hidden? He was hoping Gansey could give him a written translation of the _Red Book of Caledfwlch_ to work with. Adam suspected that it contained more useful details, but considering he couldn’t read Welsh, it wasn’t much help to him at the moment. 

A knock echoed down the hallway from the front door. “Ronan? Will you get that?” Adam called out. After about a minute of more rapping, Adam grumbled, scooped all the papers he had spread out across his lap and laid them on the desk. 

“Ronan?” Adam called again.

“Just a fucking second, Parrish,” Ronan called from upstairs. 

Adam walked to the front door and opened it. 

“Adam!” Blue practically squealed as she wrapped her arms around him. Her hair had grown a bit over the last few months; it was long enough now to be pulled back in two braids at the top of her head. Her smile was so wide, she glowed. Adam could feel himself glowing back at her. When he looked behind her, Gansey was standing watching the two of them with admiration. He looked older than Adam remembered. His eyes held the weight of three lifetimes. 

“Adam,” Gansey nodded and held out a fist. 

Instead of returning the gesture, Adam reached out and clasped Gansey’s hand and pulled him in close, each pat on his back demonstrating how good it was to see him again. Gansey returned the embrace easily. Adam had held his friend at arm’s length for so long, but all his reasons for doing so felt so trivial now. Months ago he had vowed to appreciate every moment he had with Gansey, and that feeling had not dissipated. 

The revelry was interrupted by a banging noise coming down the stairs. “Son of a bitch,” Ronan swore as he caught himself on the railing. He had clearly heard their voices and fell over himself trying to get down the stairs. 

“Asshole!” Blue yelled out throwing her arms in the air. 

“Maggot!” Ronan returned, scooping her up and dropping her back to the floor. 

“Dick,” Ronan greeted as he punched Gansey’s shoulder. Gansey swung his arm around Ronan’s neck in response. 

The four of them were like interlocking pieces that had snapped back into place. They could be apart a month, a year, or a decade and when they came back together it would still feel like this.

“Nice shirt,” Blue teased grabbing the seam of Ronan’s _Bates_ shirt and giving it a tug. 

“It’s my kind of college,” Ronan said as he pulled away from her grasp. “One that I don’t have to ever fucking go to.”

“How’s farm life?” Gansey asked. “From the looks of the fields, you’ve been busy.”

“Lots of shit to do,” Ronan admitted, “but I’m working on it.” 

Adam offered them something to drink and they settled in the living room. Blue snuggled up next to Gansey, her head resting against his shoulder. Gansey glanced over at her, adoration in his eyes. 

“So Adam, are you too good for us now that are you’re more educated than the rest of us?” Blue asked.

“C’mon, Blue,” Adam said. He knew she was kidding, but felt a bit odd that he was the only one of them that had started college. 

“Smart ass fucker got a 4.0,” Ronan added.

“Nice work, Adam,” Gansey said, shoving his knee. 

“Well, what about you - have either of you decided what you're doing next year?”

Gansey dropped his head back on the couch and sighed. “The Ganseys want to have a talk about it on this visit. I just don’t think I’m ready yet.”

Blue shrugged, “I want to go to school someday. I’m just not sure if that is next fall. I’m still thinking about it.”

“What about Henry?” Adam asked.

“His mom wants him to go to school again near one of these hot spots.” Blue put air quotes around _hot spots_. “Mr. Gray says things have been quieter, but they need to keep an eye out. I don’t know if that’s what Henry wants either.”

Ronan scoffed, “You guys are making me look fucking responsible. Please stop.”

“Ronan, you run a farm and take care of a dream child. There is nothing we can do to make you look less responsible.” Gansey grinned.

Ronan responded with an obscene gesture, but it didn’t take the truth out of Gansey’s words. 

“Is Mr. Gray back?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, he came back here after he left you,” Blue responded. “He said you all met after finding another dream forest? What’s going on up there?”

“You know how we all just knew something was happening in Henrietta in the last couple of years? There’s that same feeling there.” Adam said. 

“Mr. Gray found some of those magical fucks snooping around in the caves there. Apparently multiple people are trying to wake the line up there,” Ronan explained.

“They’re convinced that it’s time to wake up all magic. I’m just not sure they all know what that even means. Professor Solis is guiding them, Shane has translated the Red Book text that they’re using as a road map and Stace has had visions that are pretty convincing. Some serious stuff went down when Glendower died.” Adam wished he could communicate the mind-boggling nature of what Stace showed him. Glendower had wanted to wake the lines. Now, they could be the ones to actually do it. But Adam felt it was a bit like a kid playing with matches. If they made one wrong choice, they could burn the entire house down.

“Malory said the tablets in London referred to Glendower as the commander of the Knights of Caledfwlch, protectors of the sword and magic.” Gansey’s eyes lit up as he spoke. In that moment, he looked a bit like the old Gansey, hopeful and idealistic, unfettered by the weight of the past, present and future. “Do you really think Excalibur still exists? And that it can be found?” Adam could hear the hope in his voice.

“I saw it in the past.” Adam felt certain that the vision from Stace was real. “I just have no idea how we’d actually find it. I’m wondering if there’s something helpful in the _Red Book_ otherthan the passage that Shane translated for us. I think the book is our best lead; there’s so much subtlety to language and individuals translate things differently, there’s likely more to it.”

“An authentic text from Glendower’s time is such an amazing find,” Gansey marveled. “I would love to see it.”

Adam got up off the couch and walked over to a small table at the side of the room. “Well, maybe this will be some consolation until you can come and see it yourself,” he said, handing Gansey an envelope. “Merry Christmas.” Adam handed another envelope to Blue. “And this one’s for you.” 

Blue and Gansey both looked at one another, smiling. Gansey nodded to Blue to go first. She slid her finger into the edge of the envelope and tore it open. She pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it, reading aloud, “Ten pine, fir or cedar trees will be planted by the Arbor Day Foundation in the Tahoe National Forest in Honor of _Blue Sargent being Awesome_ , made possible by Adam Parrish and Ronan Lynch.”

“You guys!” Blue said, jumping up and throwing her arms around them both. “This is perfect.”

“Ok, Gansey.” Blue sat back down. “Now you.”

Gansey gently opened the metal fastener of the envelope and slid the contents, a large stack of 8 by 10 photographs, into his lap. He picked up the first to examine it. It was an enlarged shot of a red book cover.

“Professor Solis sent me photographs of the entire book to give to you. I figured you might be willing to do some translations for me and help us out?” Gansey was gently shuffling through the photos, his face awed.

“Adam, this is utterly amazing,” he said reverently.

Adam smiled, pleased by Gansey’s reaction. “And, like I said, she agreed to show it to you _when_ you come visit. So now you have to come.”

“You’re doing couples gifts now?” Blue teased. “This has really gotten serious.”

Ronan scoffed again. “You’re all getting the gift of Ronan Lynch.”

“Now that’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Adam smirked. 

“Well, these are for you,” Blue said, taking a few wrapped gifts from her bag. “Ronan may have spilled your Christmas gift to us.”

She handed a package to each of them. Adam and Ronan both looked at one another before they tore into them simultaneously. 

They each held a pile of books. Adam’s had a variety of titles: _On the Road, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, To Kill a Mockingbird,_ and _Gravity’s Rainbow_. 

“Thought we could help build out your library,” Gansey said. He pointed to _To Kill a Mockingbird_. “This is one of my favorites.” 

“And _On the Road_ is currently mine,” Blue said. “It really helped me get into that road trip vibe. Maybe it will make you want to join us for a bit.” There was a bit of teasing in her voice. On a number of occasions, Adam had said he couldn’t participate in something as frivolous as a road trip. Blue had countered that she was a “Student of Life.” They had agreed to disagree. “And you’re the only one I know that might be able to understand that one.” She pointed at _Gravity’s Rainbow_. "So good luck with that.”

“Thanks, guys,” Adam said, excited to start building his library. His. Library. It still felt strange to even think it. 

“You assholes are so god damned thoughtful,” Ronan responded. “Giving Parrish more homework when you knew he wouldn’t have enough to keep his fucking mind busy.”

“Hey, you too, dumbass,” Blue said. “Wouldn’t want your brain to turn to mush.”

“Too fucking late for that,” Ronan said, looking down at the pile in his hands. The top book was a Latin version of the first book of the _Harry Potter_ series. As Ronan shuffled the book to the bottom of the pile, a tape case fell on the ground. He picked it up. It read, _Music that won’t make your ears bleed._

“It’s one of our road trip mixes,” Gansey explained. 

“We figured you could use some music education,” Blue smirked. “And the other books are for you and Opal.” 

Adam looked over the stack. They were all children’s books translated into Latin. He felt a tinge of sadness knowing that he wouldn’t get to read most of these with them. _At least for now_ , he thought. 

Ronan gave Blue and Gansey a dirty look. “Fuck you very much,” he said, holding up the tape. “But Opal is gonna flip over these,” he added, looking at the books with a smile working its way around the corners of his mouth.

“So, come on.” Blue stood up. “Let’s see this library.”

Ronan got up from the floor and Adam gathered the books. Then they walked Blue and Gansey into the library. 

“Wow, Ronan. You did _this_?” Blue asked.

“What the fuck do you all think I do all day?”

“Dream fantastical objects,” Gansey said.

“Light random stuff on fire,” Blue added.

“Drive the tractor at high speed around in the mud,” Adam finished.

“Ok, fine, assholes. But you can also add _build shit with my hands_ to that list.”

Adam put the books on the shelf near the others. He loved how they looked there—the satisfaction of filling one shelf. The potential of filling the rest. A collection of knowledge; a room of possibility. 

“I think we’ve waited long enough,” Blue said. “We need to go to Cabeswater.” Adam’s stomach flipped a bit at the suggestion, but it had been on his mind for a while. So many questions had come up with the discovery of this new dream forest. The most likely place to find answers was Cabeswater. 

Gansey grabbed Blue’s hand and they walked toward the door. “I’ve got the Pig. I’ll drive.”

“She said she wanted to go to Cabeswater, not fucking hang out on the side of the road,” Ronan said pulling on his coat.

“Hey, the Pig is still in fine running condition. Besides, I haven’t been able to drive it in months. Just give this to me, Lynch.” The compromise was this - Gansey drove the Pig, Ronan picked the music. Blue and Adam complained about both decisions. All was right with the world. 

Blue insisted on an additional stop before heading into Cabeswater. The four of them got out of the car at the small church where Blue had first seen Gansey’s spirit. When Noah had finally disappeared, the four of them had come and planted a tree near Noah’s burial spot. They had all assumed that Noah had held on to see them through the trial with the demon and once he was sure they were safe, he could be at peace. Adam knew that Blue had visited this spot often before they left on their trip, but he didn’t realize how often Ronan must have been there until he saw all the trinkets and baubles hanging from the tree. Among the many objects were a red model mustang, miniature snow globes and a tiny window frame. On the ground at the base of the tree, a small granite slab said simply “Remembered.”

Blue crouched down at the slab and brushed some leaves aside. She shoved her hand in her pocket and pulled out a number of stones. As she laid them all on the block, Adam could see they all resembled a heart shape. “I found these all along our trip, Noah,” she said as she wiped her hands on her leggings and stood up. “We got to go to all these places because of you. Because your life let Gansey save ours.”

Adam felt his eyes sting. He looked over at Ronan, who was hanging his head and kicking rocks on the ground. 

“Thank you, Noah.” Gansey said, voicing words Adam suspected he thought every day, every hour, every minute. Adam knew Gansey would always be grateful for the gift he was given. 

“Fucking asshole,” Ronan said, rubbing his arm over his eyes. Adam slid his arm around Ronan’s waist and without hesitation, Ronan pulled him closer. 

Adam always felt a little strange when they were this close in front of Gansey and Blue. Not because he thought they wouldn’t approve. But their relationship had changed the dynamic of the group, just like Blue and Gansey’s relationship had. In some ways, they had all broken an unspoken promise of loving one another equally and without condition. As with many changes, it wasn’t bad, just different. Another reminder that life is not static. They could not stand still if they tried. 

But Adam wanted everything. He wanted what they all had in the past, he wanted what they all had in this very moment and he wanted every piece of his new life. It was only when he was on the ley line that having them all at once felt even remotely possible; only when they stepped out of time that it didn’t feel like a choice or a bargain. 

“We miss you, Noah,” he said as he leaned on Ronan’s shoulder. The four of them stood silent for a few moments then they all slowly walked toward the car to head to Cabeswater. 

As they were walking along the line, Adam had another vision. This one was a bit like the one Stace had given him - flashes of pictures, although these felt harder to understand. Noah, translucent and disappearing, leaning over a young boy laying in piles of leaves on the ground; Gansey’s eyes opening, sprawled on a ground covered in blood and blue flower petals; Gansey, blood on his face, eyes closed, Excalibur laid upon his chest, his body spread out among hundreds of green vines. The surreal nature of what Adam saw knocked the air out of his lungs. 

“Are you ok?” Ronan asked, leaning down to try to look Adam in the eyes. Adam had stopped walking and was doubled over. 

“Adam?” Gansey’s voice was filled with concern. “What’s going on?”

“I’m seeing visions,” Adam said, voice raspy. 

Blue put her hand on Adam’s shoulder.

Gansey opened the door of the Pig. “Sit down for a minute,” he motioned to the passenger seat. Adam readily complied. Ronan returned from the other side of the car with a bottle of water and handed it to him. The wetness of it on his tongue had a grounding effect. “What’s it like?” Gansey asked after giving Adam a moment to recover.

“Most are jumbled pictures, some give a quick view of a situation that is going to happen. Some are pictures of the past.” Adam took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. “Sometimes it is just a feeling that I can’t explain.” He filled his lungs again. “They pretty much all make me feel physically sick to my stomach.”

Adam paused. “I felt when you died,” he said as he shifted his eyes to the ground. 

“Which time?” Ronan asked.

“All of them,” he said flatly.

Adam looked up and Blue and Gansey had exchanged a worried look. He couldn’t tell if it was worry for Gansey or worry for Adam. History would suggest it was both. 

“Adam, how long has this been happening?” Gansey’s voice was a bit hesitant.

“Since-,” Adam started. 

“Since, I reconnected him to Cabeswater,” Ronan interrupted. Adam glanced at Ronan, a pained look across his face. Is that what he thought? The visions did get stronger once he was able to connect to Cabeswater, but Adam didn’t think that was the cause. 

“No, I had some before that,” Adam corrected. “I just didn’t realize it. This isn’t your fault, Ronan.” Ronan’s expression continued to be tense. Adam suspected that he didn’t believe him.

“Have you talked to Mom?” Blue asked.

Adam shook his head.

“I think she and Calla might be able to help,” Blue suggested. “They’ve both been where you are. I don’t think this is going away.” And there it was. Adam hadn’t talked with Maura and Calla for precisely that reason. He had hoped that somehow this wasn’t permanent, a side effect from another ley line. But the other line was not yet awake and he just admitted he had started to feel it before Cabeswater reemerged. Adam didn’t want to lose control again, but it felt as if he already had.

“Let’s go back to the Barns,” Blue suggested. 

“We’ll come back another day,” Gansey agreed.

Ronan just stood there, his worried look growing more intense. Adam was about to argue, to let them know that he wasn’t this fragile, that he could handle it, but the vision of the four of them leaving flashed through his mind and he knew it didn’t matter what he said in this moment. They weren’t going to Cabeswater today.

***********


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas at the Barns! Get ready for some serious fluff!

The next morning Adam sat in the living room, drinking coffee and looking out on the backyard. The greenery had become brown; death brought by winter’s cold. The only sign of life was the stag with a few does, foraging for food on the tree line. It had yet to snow in Singer’s Falls, but it had grown cold enough that the dew on the ground froze, resulting in a white, shimmery sheen spread across the lawn. Adam never took for granted the tranquility he felt in the early mornings at the Barns, even after months of living here. These were still the moments when he was the most serene and contented. 

Adam’s inner musings were interrupted by some sudden stomping on the front porch. Before he could get to the door to see what the commotion was, it flung open and Opal yelled “Adam!” He knelt down on the ground as the young girl threw herself into his arms. She smelled sweet, like candy or bubblegum. Pieces of her hair were sticking up from a half ponytail on the side of her head and they tickled his face as she hugged him. 

Adam held Opal as her breathing steadied, his own heart thudding in his chest. Once her grasp loosened he pulled her back gently. “Let me look at you,” he said. “Have you gotten taller?”

She pulled herself straight, demonstrating how much she’d grown. “Matthew taught me how to ride his bike!” she exclaimed. 

“He did? Wow.” Matthew’s bike was likely way too tall for Opal and Adam found it difficult to picture her keeping steady on a bike with her hooves, but she was just as stubborn as Ronan so Adam was sure she had kept at it until she was at least able to keep her balance.

“Hey, Adam,” Matthew’s friendly greeting came from behind them. Adam stood holding Opal, her arms and legs still wrapped tightly around him. Matthew offered Adam his fist and Adam bumped it in greeting. Matthew’s blonde, curly hair was cut shorter than he had kept it when Adam first met him, likely due to Declan’s influence. The change made him look older. Declan entered the doorway behind him, carrying what looked to be the entire party’s luggage, including Chainsaw in her cage. 

“Parrish.” Declan nodded to Adam. He returned the gesture with a welcoming smile. Adam knew that Declan didn’t have a problem with his relationship with Ronan, but he still seemed awkward around him. Declan’s and Ronan’s peace accord was always a bit tentative. The potential for the reemergence of their warring was greater when they were in one another’s immediate vicinity. Declan’s caution toward Adam was likely merely a function of him knowing that Adam was important to Ronan. Adam could live with that. 

Opal and Matthew began running circles around them, the pent of up energy from their car ride forcing its way out. “Let’s go to my room!” Matthew giggled as they both ran up the stairs. 

“You must have been on the road early,” Adam noted. 

“These two pains in the ass woke me up at the crack of dawn because they couldn’t wait to get here.” Declan dropped the bags on the floor, set down Chainsaw’s cage, and started removing his coat. “Where’s Ronan?”

“He’s out in one of the outer barns. He’s dreaming something for tonight. He said he shouldn’t do it in the house.”

“Do you ever get used to that?” Declan asked. 

Adam shrugged. “Not really,” he admitted. “How do you get used to knowing that something you thought was fiction most of your life is actually fact?”

“Exactly,” Declan said, the tension between them easing a bit. Adam and Declan didn’t have much in common, but neither of them had been born of magic like Ronan. 

“Hey, Asshole,” Ronan greeted his brother as he stomped in through the front door.

“Good to see you too, Shithead,” Declan said as he embraced his brother. Adam was glad to see that the terms of their truce were still holding. 

“Where are the little pukes?” Ronan asked as he took off his coat and dropped a box in the hall closet. 

“In Matthew’s room.” Adam pointed upstairs. 

“The two of them have been at it like cats and dogs,” Declan said shoving their bags against the wall. “Good luck with them for the next few weeks.”

“They’re a fucking walk in the park compared to us,” Ronan said taking Chainsaw out of her cage and sitting her on his shoulder. She let out a caw of appreciation as Ronan rubbed her beak.

“No fucking doubt,” Declan agreed.

“What’s in the box?” Adam had wondered what all the secrecy was about. 

Ronan often accidentally dreamed when they were together. Most of the time it was something innocuous, a magical toy for Opal or something to make their lives a bit easier, but on occasion, it was something surprising and fantastical. One night last summer, he'd dreamt a miniature dragon. Adam woke up with his eyebrows singed and Ronan released the tiny animal into the woods. Only Ronan knew what other unimaginable creatures existed out there. But that kind of thing didn’t happen often because Ronan had gotten pretty good at controlling his dreams. If Ronan was concerned about dreaming around them, who the hell knows what he was making. 

“You’ll have to fucking wait with the rest of them, Parrish,” Ronan warned as he slammed the door closed.

These kinds of moments made Adam realize how silly he had been to try to protect the quasi-normal life he had at Bates. Having Ronan in his life meant never being _normal_ and he wouldn’t want it any other way. Living away from Ronan may have caused him to lose sight of that for a moment. But it wasn’t only about Ronan now; Adam had his own place in this magical world, he just hadn’t come to terms with it yet.

***********

Adam spent the rest of the day helping Ronan get ready for the Christmas party. They had decided to celebrate on Christmas Eve and invite all their friends and family, leaving the Lynch brothers free to go to church on Christmas morning. 

Opal and Matthew had strung popcorn and cranberries and hung them all around the house. Chainsaw flew from strand to strand picking at the popcorn. Declan helped by stringing lights and stocking the bar. “It’s not a fucking Lynch party without scotch,” he said. 

Ronan had spent the day cooking various types of meats. Adam had always been surprised by the fact that Ronan not only knew how to cook, but seemed to like to do it. Mealtimes were stressful at the Parrish household. Cooking had not been a skill his mother tried to pass down to Adam. But apparently, Aurora often spent Sundays in the kitchen with the boys, baking cookies and preparing Sunday dinner. Ronan once said he felt closer to her when he was working in there. 

“Get the fuck out, Matthew,” Ronan said, swatting his brother’s hand away from what looked like some kind of batter. 

“But Ronan!” he protested. 

“Look, if you fucking put these on a cookie sheet, I’ll let you and Opal lick the bowl.”

“Yes!” he exclaimed, taking the bowl and baking sheet over to the kitchen island to start rolling out the dough.

“And fucking wash your hands first!” Ronan growled. 

Matthew gleefully walked over to the sink where Adam had been washing dishes. Adam stepped aside for a moment, allowing Matthew to clean himself up. He then hurriedly skipped over to his work station, humming Christmas songs all along the way. 

“I want to help!” Opal yelled from the doorway. Ronan gave her the same instructions. Adam picked her up to the sink while she scrubbed her hands and Ronan pulled up a stool for her to join Matthew at the counter once she was clean. 

Adam stood there watching Opal and Matthew work. The cookie sheet was covered with what looked to be two or three snowmen-like cookies, one or two sort of reindeer-shaped cookies, and the rest were blobs of various shapes and sizes. Adam stifled a laugh. The two of them both looked so earnest in their creations, he couldn’t bear the thought of them feeling like he was making fun of them. 

“Can I do anything else?” he asked Ronan, hoping to make himself useful. 

“Just stand there and look pretty, Parrish,” Ronan said in a low voice as he leaned into Adam. It was the kind of comment that Ronan would often say to tease him, but the way he said it let Adam know he was not joking. Adam elbowed him as if to say _not around the children_ but Ronan just smiled and slid his hand into the back pocket of Adam’s jeans. Adam could feel his temperature rising. _Damn you, Ronan Lynch_ , he thought.

The doorbell rang and Adam was grateful for the excuse to separate himself physically from Ronan. “Declan can fucking get it,” Ronan said when he tried to move. Adam gave him his best stern look and gently pushed him away, maneuvering himself toward the front door before Ronan could get a good grasp on him. Adam glanced back at Ronan just as he left the room. Ronan’s face had fallen, his lower lip protruding slightly. Adam couldn’t believe it. He had never, ever seen Ronan Lynch pout. It turned out it was ridiculously sexy. Leave it to Ronan to play dirty like that. Thankfully, Adam’s body was on autopilot, not responding to his own lack of fortitude. By the time his mind had caught up, he was already at the front door. 

When he opened it, he was a bit surprised by the number of people on the front porch. Blue was the first to enter, casserole dish in hand. “Merry, Christmas, Adam! I have vegetables!” she declared as she shuffled past Adam and headed toward the kitchen. 

Adam stood aside as a flurry of motion moved past him. Gansey handed him a bottle of sparkling cider and fist bumped Adam as he came in. “It was cinnamon,” Calla barked at Maura as they entered together after him. 

“I really think it was nutmeg,” Maura countered. 

“Here Coca-cola, take these,” Calla ordered as she handed Adam a stack of pie boxes. She then turned to Maura and declared, “Persephone’s secret ingredient was cinnamon. End of discussion!”

Maura just huffed as she took off her coat and made her way to the living room. Jimi and Orla came close behind, laughing and holding various casserole dishes. They had all somehow brought the chaos of 300 Fox Way with them.

“Happy Yuletide, Merrymakers!” Henry exclaimed as he made his entrance behind the group. “I bring tidings of comfort,” he said, holding up what looked like a jug of eggnog in one hand. “And joy!” He held up mistletoe in the other. “Adam! Long time no see!”

“Merry Christmas, Henry.” Adam tried to greet him behind his stack of pies. 

“Mr. Parrish,” Mr. Gray said as he strode in, tipping his hat to Adam and ending the parade of partygoers. Adam eyed him as he entered the living room where Declan was sitting. He didn’t think Ronan had told Declan about his role in his father’s death, but he was fairly certain that Mr. Gray had given Declan a black eye once upon a time. 

Adam quickly shuffled the pies into the kitchen. “Ronan!” his voice was low, but tense. “Mr. Gray came with Maura. Have you talked with Declan about him?”

Ronan looked unphased. “Declan ran into him at Blue’s once when he was picking up Opal there. She hangs out there one day a week. She really likes Calla. Go figure.” Adam was impressed at how much Declan had seemed to fold Opal into his family. He imagined it was mostly at the insistence of Matthew and Ronan, but regularly taking care of a dream child wasn’t an easy task and Adam respected him for it. “Anyway,” Ronan continued, “they had it out. Declan hates his guts. But he knew Gray would be here.” 

Adam let out a sigh. He was grateful to be avoiding bloodshed at his first major holiday celebration.

Gansey and Blue were now helping Opal and Matthew decorate the cookies. Opal had red frosting all over her face and up her arm. Matthew had green on his nose. Blue took a glob of red and plopped it on Gansey’s nose as well. All four of them laughed as Gansey wiped some green on Blue’s cheek. 

Ronan went over to the group and grabbed a huge fingerful of white frosting and wiped it on Matthew’s face. “Hey!” he yelled and then giggled uproariously.

Adam tried to freeze this moment in his mind so that he could keep it. He often worried that he would only be allowed a certain amount of happiness, that joy was a limited commodity that would eventually run out. Once it was time for whatever greater powers in this universe to take stock of how happiness had been distributed, to determine who was supposed to have a life filled with laughter and fulfillment, it would be discovered that Adam wasn’t one of the deserving few and it would be decided that his current situation had been a mistake. Adam was sure he had not been meant to find love and self-satisfaction and personal growth. Adam Parrish wasn’t allowed to live fairy tales. 

And yet here he was. Ronan appeared to know exactly what Adam was thinking because he took another thumb covered in icing and spread it across Adam’s lips. Before Adam could protest, Ronan kissed it off, laughing. And despite himself, Adam was laughing too.

“What in sweet mercy is going on here?” Calla thundered. She and Maura stood in the doorway, arms folded. 

“We’re making dessert!” Opal declared. Adam imagined they were both grateful that they had brought the pies after seeing this scene. 

Henry popped his head into the kitchen, joining the group. “Avant-garde frosting art. I like it!”

“Alright, alright,” Ronan cut through the mayhem with his words. “Dinner is done. All you maggots wash up and get ready to eat.” 

The living room and kitchen were filled with people eating on tables and chairs and floors-whatever space anyone could find room. The entire house was filled with clinking glasses and plates, laughing and talking, and more warmth than Adam could have ever imagined. 

After dinner, Mr. Gray and Maura joined Adam and Ronan in the kitchen. They were washing dishes while Henry and Gansey dried and Blue put things away. “Thank you for the meal, but I think it is time for me to take my leave. But before I do, I wanted to give you back this.” He handed Adam the silver raven. 

“Did you ask Gwenllian about it?” Adam asked “I thought she might come tonight.” She was the only resident of 300 Fox Way not in attendance. 

“She rarely leaves the house and has not taken kindly to cars,” Maura explained. “She’s also been especially agitated since Mr. Gray showed her that.” She pointed at the raven in Adam’s hand.

“We tried to ask her about it, but she didn’t say much. She kept saying _Ravens betray, ravens sing, ravens killed the Raven king. Marred betrays, Marred sings, Marred killed the Raven king,_ over and over again.” Mr. Gray said.

“What did you expect?” Ronan asked gruffly, “The light is on, but not only is no one home, but the residents vacated centuries ago.”

“She kept saying Marred?” Adam asked. “Do you think she meant Marred ferch Dafydd?”

“Who’s that?” Blue asked.

Gansey was rubbing his temple with his finger as he replied, “It’s another name for Glendower’s wife, Margaret.”

“Is she saying that Margaret was in the Order of the Ravens?” Blue asked. 

“Who the fuck knows what that kook is saying,” Ronan folded his arms. “She’s just going to send us on a wild goose chase. What does it even matter if Margaret was part of the Order?”

Adam was turning all the possibilities over in his mind. “Someone betrayed Glendower and killed him. It could have been her, although I thought the historical reports were that she died in the Tower of London before Glendower supposedly came here.”

“Even if it was her, what does it matter if it happened five hundred years ago?” Henry had stopped drying dishes and joined the group. 

“Maybe not at all,” Gansey agreed. “But it seems as if we won’t likely get much else from Gwenllian. So that means there is only one other person living who might be able to tell us more about the Order.” 

“My father,” Blue almost sounded disappointed at the realization. Blue’s father hadn’t come out of the birch tree much even after the demon was destroyed. When Ronan had informed her that Cabeswater had returned, she had shared it with her mother who had coaxed him out to take him back to where he would be most comfortable. Blue hadn’t seen him since she left for her trip. 

“Ronan!” Their mini-summit meeting was interrupted by Opal skipping into the kitchen. “You said we could open presents!”

“Alright, fine. You all can open them now,” Ronan agreed. Once Opal dashed out of the kitchen he said, “We’re not going to figure this out now so we might as well indulge the kid.”

“We’ll be in touch, Mr. Parrish,” Mr. Gray answered as he tilted his hat again to Adam. “Mr. Lynch, you throw a nice party.” 

“Thank you, boys,” Maura gave them both hugs. “I’m here if you need me, Adam,” she said as she squeezed his arm. “You’ll make the right decision.” Then, answering a question Adam had not yet even thought to ask: “You aren’t a passenger in your own life. That’s not how it works.” She said “Merry Christmas” to the room before kissing Blue on the cheek and walking out the kitchen door. 

When the group had gathered in the living room, Opal and Matthew were sitting on the floor, surrounded by wrapped presents. Adam wasn’t sure where they had all come from, but he suspected that most people there had brought something for the two of them. Blue joined them on the floor and Gansey sat down on the couch behind her. Henry sat down next to Blue, throwing his arm around her. Declan had been standing in the doorway nursing a drink—Orla was next to him, trying to get his attention while standing under the mistletoe. It was at that moment that Adam realized that the red smudge on Henry’s face wasn’t frosting, but Orla’s red lipstick.

Opal was waiting patiently with a box in her lap. Matthew was pawing through the gifts under the tree and making piles. “Just fucking go ahead,” Ronan said. At this, there was a flurry of paper and ripping noises. 

Adam hadn’t been sure what to expect of a Lynch Christmas. Adam’s family typically had only celebrated with a turkey dinner if Adam’s father’s company had done well that year and gave him one as a bonus, and one small gift, which often ended up being something Adam needed like shoes or underwear. But when he imagined other families on Christmas, he had always thought of it as a celebration of peace and joy, most likely because there was very little of either in his own house. When Adam saw Christmas on TV or observed other families engaged in the celebration, it always appeared to be a relaxing occasion, full of quiet religious services, stockings by the fire and pictures of sugar plums dancing in sleeping children’s heads. But everything Adam had observed thus far at the Barns had been boisterous and chaotic. Lynch family Christmas was clearly more _Jingle Bell Rock_ than _Silent Night_.

When the insanity had settled, Matthew and Opal looked over their loot. Matthew had a Bates baseball cap that he had already thrown on his head and a driving video game, both from Adam, a handful of gift cards, a new phone, a tablet and some sort of contraption that Adam figured Ronan dreamed up. 

“Is that a hoverboard?” Declan asked, walking over to Matthew. 

“Yeah, it’s one that won’t fucking blow up,” Ronan said, folding his arms. “You’d better wear your fucking helmet when you ride that thing, Matthew.”

“Awesome!” Matthew jumped up and stood on it, practicing his balance. “Can I try it?”

“In a few minutes,” Ronan agreed. “Opal, what are you chewing on?”

“It’s a tablet,” Gansey interjected. “I got one for both of them.”

“Gansey, she’s gonna fucking try to eat that thing and bust it,” Ronan grumbled.

“Well, put it away for now!” Gansey threw his hands up in the air. “I got it so she could video chat with Adam and Matthew since you’re still allergic to your phone.” 

“Ok, fine,” he said as he pulled it out of Opal’s teeth. “You can have this back when you want to talk to them.”

“What’s this?” Blue asked, opening a small box by Opal’s feet.

“Oooh, pretty!” Opal exclaimed as Blue pulled a silver heart locket from the box. 

Blue opened it and showed Opal. It had a photo of Ronan and Adam inside. “You can wear it while I’m gone and we’ll always be together, okay?” Adam said as he bent down and helped her put it on. Opal swung her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, then went back to pawing over the rest of her gifts. She had a number of interesting dresses that Blue had made for her. One had both lime green and aquamarine fabric sewn together to create an asymmetrical ballerina skirt. Opal had already thrown it over her head, her arm caught in the neck hole. Blue helped her wiggle her way all the way into it and smoothed out her hair.

“Kerah, what’s this?” she asked as she opened what must have been Ronan’s gift. They looked like bright red boots, although Adam figured they were something else since Opal couldn’t wear shoes. 

“Here,” he said, sitting her down on the couch and slipping them on her feet. Once they were on, Opal jumped up and starting running around the room. She skipped and twirled about with ease. These were clearly dream boots made especially for magical hooved feet. Ronan watched her dance around for a few minutes before he said, “Now we can go visit Adam at school.”

“Yessss!” she jumped up and down. Now Adam understood. Opal tended to spend her time with people who knew what she was and who wanted to protect her. Ronan hadn’t wanted to bring her to Maine and risk people seeing her. Big rubber boots could only really work for short periods of time and they were practically impossible for Opal to move around in. These would allow Opal to live more in the world, an amazing gift indeed.

“Ro-nan!” Matthew whined. “Can I try this now?”

“Fine. I have something to show everyone outside anyway, you little twerp.”

“Is this the big surprise?” Adam raised his eyebrow at Ronan.

“Shut up and get your ass outside, Parrish.”

Ronan pulled the box out of the closet and the group gathered up their coats and moved themselves out on the lawn. He climbed up on the roof of the equipment shed and started laying out whatever was in the box. The roof precariously groaned as he moved along the length of it. When Ronan was done, he jumped down and held out what looked like a remote control. “Ok, everyone look up at the fucking sky,” he said as he pressed a button. 

At first it appeared like nothing happened, but after about thirty seconds, a bright red firework blasted in the air. Adam’s mind almost didn’t comprehend it because it didn’t sound like a firework. Instead it made a dreamy twinkle sound as the color burst outwards. As other colors joined it in the air, the explosions created a haunting tune: blues, greens, yellows, silvers, purples, golds and pinks. The entire spectacle was so beautiful it took Adam’s breath away. Matthew and Opal were looking upwards, eyes wide, their mouths shaped in O’s. Adam had to consciously close his own mouth as he shifted his gaze to Ronan. 

He was also staring up at the sky, lips curled at the edge of his mouth. The reflected colors danced on his face. This was Ronan Lynch doing what he was meant to do - bringing beauty and awe to the world. 

When Adam shifted his gaze back above him, he realized that something from the fireworks was falling to the ground. Adam held out his hand and a snowflake landed on his wrist. It was cold and wet and large. He looked around and saw that snow was falling from all the fireworks as they continued to pop off one after another. 

It only took moments for it to accumulate on the ground. Opal threw herself down and was rolling around in it. Declan took a handful and shoved it down Matthew’s shirt. Henry threw snowballs at Blue and Gansey, but they just stood there under the falling snow kissing in a carefree, joy-filled way that Adam had yet to grow accustomed to seeing.

He stood there watching the entire scene, dumbstruck. Ronan appeared to be observing everyone as well, until he bent over, gathered up a large handful of snow and threw it at Declan’s head. At this, both Declan and Matthew turned and ran toward him, wrestling Ronan to the ground. 

Adam should have been paying attention to the rest of the group because Blue had been helping Opal ball up a handful of snow and once it was fully formed, she coaxed her into throwing it at Adam. The cold struck him hard saying, _stop observing and start living_. Adam jumped into action and started chasing them both around in circles. 

The snow and music and fireworks continued until they had all been immobilized by exhaustion and frozen fingers. When the last streak of color crossed the sky, Ronan said simply, “That’s it,” and led them all back in the house. 

All of their guests headed home for the night not long after that. Ronan put Opal to bed while Matthew, Declan and Adam cleaned up. Adam was shutting off the lights in the kitchen when Ronan came down the stairs. Declan and Matthew must have already gone to bed because the only light remaining came from the dream objects on the Christmas tree. 

Adam walked over to the archway and admired the warm glow of the tree. Ronan joined him and slid his arms around Adam’s waist in the way he always did, resting his chin on Adam’s shoulder. After holding him for only a few short moments, Ronan turned Adam by the waist so that they were facing one another. 

“Merry fucking Christmas, Adam,” Ronan said, his breath warm on Adam’s cheek. 

“Merry fucking Christmas, Ronan,” Adam returned.

Then Adam, filled with more happiness than he thought he could stand, kissed Ronan underneath the mistletoe.

***********


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some angst to follow the fluff.

Adam stood in front of the bathroom mirror, tying and untying his tie. Each time he did it, there was something imperfect about the knot that forced him to start over. 

He tried to steady his nerves by rehearsing some of his key interview talking points:

_I’m hard-working. I worked three jobs to put myself through private school and graduated first in my class._

_I’m a leader. I was the captain of the debate team at Aglionby and have continued to hone my debate skills at Bates._

It was only an informational interview, but Gansey had said that despite the fact the firm was small, they often looked for a summer clerk and Gansey’s father had already put in a good word for him. Adam had only allowed himself a few months of adjustment and enjoying being where he was before he started looking to the future. The career counselors had given him a career inventory that confirmed a few things: one, Adam liked to solve problems and two, Adam liked to engage in discourse. Lawyer was one of the careers on the top of the match list. Adam figured that the only way he would be able to find out if it was what he wanted to do was to try working at a law office. 

His stomach twisted thinking about trying to to impress these people. If he could get an internship in Henrietta for the summer, he could come back and live at the Barns and be with Opal and Ronan again. He wanted it so badly it hurt. 

Adam pulled the tie again, growling out of frustration.

“What’s wrong Parrish?” Ronan asked joining Adam in the bathroom. 

“It’s this tie. I can’t tie it straight.”

“I liked it crooked.” Ronan grinned, looking at Adam in the mirror. 

“As much as I like pleasing you, a screwed up tie is not going to help my interview.”

“Here, let me,” Ronan said as he hitched himself up onto the vanity counter and pulled Adam closer to him. Ronan’s eyes were fixed as he twisted the material around itself. When he was finished Adam had the most perfectly tied necktie. 

“All this time, Ronan, you’ve been wearing your ties half falling off and you could do that?” Adam couldn’t hide his exasperation.

Ronan shrugged. “I told you, it was a style choice.” 

Adam looked past Ronan into the mirror and brushed his hair to the side. He kept nervously worrying at one strand that wouldn’t stay flat.

Ronan watched while Adam neurotically adjusted his appearance. He then grabbed Adam’s tie by the knot and pulled him close. “But, I like this too.” His voice was low and sexy. “I could get used to seeing you in a tie again everyday.”

“You’re impossible,” Adam pulled back, straightening the tie again. 

“Just the way you like it, Parrish,” he said wrapping his arms around Adam’s neck. He hated it, but Ronan was right. Adam never liked things to be easy. He always took the hardest road. He wanted to do things on his own, he wanted a challenge. A part of him still hated that Gansey had helped get him this interview. And after completing a semester at Bates with a perfect GPA and without too much stress, he had started thinking that things had been too easy. 

One of his friends at debate was saying he planned to complete his B.A. in three years. The idea had never occurred to Adam before that moment. But when he started looking into it, he realized that he had one semester’s worth of AP credits. If Adam took one extra class for each of his remaining semesters, he could graduate early. Once Adam had calculated the amount of money this would save him, he had pretty much decided to do it. He hadn’t told Ronan yet because he wasn’t sure how he would react. Ronan was often critical of how hard Adam had pushed himself in high school and Adam really want to argue with him about it. There were still some things that Ronan just didn’t understand and caring about money was one of them.

Ronan had moved his hands down to Adam’s waist, rubbing his thumbs in circular motions on Adam’s hips. Even after all these months, there was an energy that always flowed between them. Adam could breathe it, feel it, taste it. It was completely and utterly overwhelming. No matter what he was doing, it always required Adam to fortify himself to get free of it. Adam grabbed a hold of Ronan’s thighs and pulled his body closer to Ronan. He gave Ronan one long, intense kiss in agreement then said, “I have to go.”

“Go get ‘em, cowboy,” Ronan said, knocking Adam on the chin.

“Asshole,” Adam said, kissing him again quickly. “See you this afternoon,” he called as he hustled his way down the stairs.

Adam opened the front door to leave, but standing in his way was a tall, broad-shouldered man. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, blonde hair hanging a bit in his eyes. His faded blue jeans, work boots and Carhartt jacket gave him an appealingly rugged appearance. He was irritatingly handsome. 

“Oh, hi,” he said, clearly startled at almost running into Adam or— another more perplexing possibility—at finding Adam at the door at all. “Is Ronan here?”

“Ronan!” Adam called back behind him.

A few moments of stomping later and Ronan was joining him at the door. “Oh, hey Luke,” he said, extending his hand to clasp his in a quasi-high five. 

“Hey, uh, sorry, is this a bad time? I just thought I’d drop by and take a look at the tractor,” Luke said, seeming pretty uncomfortable.

“Oh right, that would be great. Luke, this is Adam. Adam - Luke.” 

Adam reached out and shook his hand. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m running late.”

Adam shuffled past the two of them and ran out the door. He jumped in the BMW and watched as the two of them walked toward the tractor, wondering who this guy was and why he showed up unannounced. An unfamiliar burning feeling bubbled up inside him, but Adam pushed it aside and began running through his interview talking points as he drove into Henrietta.

***********

After spending a few hours tinkering on the tractor, Luke was able to get the oil leak to stop. When he'd first offered to take a look at it, Ronan had agreed to a six pack of beer in payment. 

“Hey, I’m sorry, I don’t have the beer I owe you.” Ronan felt bad he couldn’t pay back the work Luke had just done. “Can I get you back sometime after Adam goes back to school? We can have a few and play pool at Monmouth again.”

“Sure,” Luke said. “Call me whenever, Ronan. I’ll be around.” There was a brief moment when it seemed like maybe he wanted to say something else, but it passed quickly. Then he got into his rusted red pickup truck and drove away.

Matthew and Opal had been out screwing around in one of the outer barns. When they returned, Ronan made them lunch and the three of them started to watch a movie. It wasn’t long before Adam came back from his interview. 

“How’d it go?” Ronan asked as Adam hurried by the living room. Adam just shrugged and stomped his way up the stairs. 

That meant it didn’t go well. Ronan got up off the couch and made his way up the stairs to join him. Adam was sitting on their bed pulling at his tie. 

“That fucking bad?” Ronan asked from the doorway.

“It was fine,” Adam said looking at the ground. “They offered me an internship. It was probably because of Gansey, but whatever. It will be a good experience.”

“That’s great. You won’t have to work shitty jobs next summer. So why are you acting like someone drowned your fucking puppy?” Ronan asked.

Adam still wasn’t looking at him. “I’m not. It’s fine.” His speech was clipped and his entire body was tense. When he finally looked up at Ronan there was a look in his eyes Ronan had only seen a few times before, when Adam was trying to cover up a fight with his father. Pain. Betrayal. 

Ronan sat down beside him on the bed. “Adam for fuck’s sake, what’s going on?”

“Who’s that guy?” Adam asked. 

Ronan had no idea who Adam was talking about or what this had to do with Adam’s misery. “What guy?” 

Adam shifted his eyes to the ground again. “Luke,” he said.

Ronan blinked, confused. “He’s a guy I met at St. Agnes. That piece of shit you left wasn’t turning over one day and he stopped and helped. Now we hang out sometimes.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me about him?” Adam’s voice was empty, seemingly devoid of any emotion.

Was this about Adam feeling disconnected from his life? Ronan could get that. He'd felt the same when he visited Adam at school. He placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “There’s nothing to tell.”

Adam shrugged him off. He might as well have punched him in the gut. “Don’t bullshit me, Ronan,” he snapped. “There must have been a reason why you didn’t tell me about him.”

And now Ronan understood. “Adam, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me with this. He’s just a friend. We just hang out sometimes.” His tone came out harsher than he had intended.

“Like we did?” Adam was looking at Ronan now, searching for something. Ronan wished he fucking knew what the hell he wanted.

“No, not like we did. Nothing else could be like that. Like us.” Ronan could feel the bile bubbling up like lava in a volcano. “How the fuck don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t trust _him_.” The distance between them grew as he spoke. “I saw the way he looked at you.” 

“That shouldn’t fucking matter,” Ronan was digging his fingernails into the palm of his hands trying to hold back the anger. He knew if he let it out, the two of them might not speak for days. It had happened so many times before, but not nearly as often since they had become an _us_. Ronan was constantly trying to do better, to _be_ better. Why couldn’t Adam see that?

“I’m not fucking excited about you holding hands with Stace on a regular basis, but I suck it up. I trust _you_.” Ronan threw back.

“That’s different,” Adam’s voice was now full of flames. “You know I have to work with her if we're going to wake the lines.”

“What about Mr. Smiley? Or your study buddy, Shane? The fucking point, Parrish, is that you moved on and made other friends. Why am I not allowed to? You left _me_ , remember.”

Adam took his fist and hit the bedside table. Adam’s presence always appeared to be a sea of calm until he exploded. Ronan couldn’t take it right now. He had spent so many days alone, missing Adam. Adam acting like he couldn’t trust him was a slap in the face. He was the one who had wanted to leave. He was the one who made it this way.

Ronan knew if he stayed he would say something he’d regret. He allowed himself the simple satisfaction of slamming the door as he stomped down the stairs and headed out into the fields.

***********

Adam sat on the bed holding his wrist as he loosened and tightened his fist. His entire hand stung from the impact on the table. The shade on the lamp had fell askew. Adam stared at it, thinking about how his actions were so much like Robert Parrish in that moment. He hated this realization. 

Adam couldn’t believe Ronan was being so naive. This guy was clearly eyeing Ronan. 

He felt tied up in knots. It was something he had never felt before, likely because you had to have something of your own before you cared about losing it. 

And how did Ronan not understand why he was angry? He had lied by omission. Maybe Adam could believe that there wasn’t actually a reason he didn’t tell him, but it was still something he should be sorry for. To throw back at Adam the fact that he had been the one to decide to go away to school—when Ronan hadn't said a word about it when Adam was actually making the decision—was so unbelievably unfair. And so typically Ronan Lynch.

But Ronan was living without Adam, Gansey and Blue now. Matthew was a few hours away. Ronan and Opal were likely alone day after day here. Maybe Adam was overreacting a little, but the thought of Ronan and that neanderthal hanging out together made him want to explode. And didn’t Ronan realize that he was lonely too? Spending time with his new friends, if you could even call them that, didn’t replace him and Opal. This was hard for him too. He didn’t just move away and forget about them. He only had one more week before he went back to school and even the thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach. Adam hated feeling so torn all the time. If both parts of him kept pulling, he felt like he might split in two.

***********

When Ronan felt like this, like he wanted to trash everything in his path, the only productive thing he could do was dream. He stomped his way out into the outer barn, where he had been experimenting with some of his more dangerous dreaming. It wasn’t like he was doing it often, but when he did, he wanted to make sure Opal, Matthew and Adam were an adequate distance from anything that could explode or eat them. 

Adam was being such a fucking asshole about this entire situation. Ronan couldn’t stand replaying what Adam had said in his mind for one more moment. It was time to get out of his head and leave it all behind. 

When he woke up in Cabeswater, he still felt agitated. His waking feelings were sticking with him much more than they ever had before. He tried to think of something he could dream to shake him out of this. What he needed was to drown this all in something with a heavy proof. 

He continued walking, searching for the perfect place to drink his way to oblivion, and came upon an intricately woven archway. He thought he might have seen one like it in Anne’s dream forest, although he hadn’t taken any time to look at it closely. This one had multi-colored pebbles covering the threshold before it; the arch was made of tree branches, grown in on themselves. When he walked inside, he saw the entire canopy grew into the high ceiling of a corridor leading toward a door woven of leaves and branches. Ronan reached out and pushed on the raven-shaped bundle of sticks in the center. It opened without resistance, into another hallway.

As Ronan walked through, he saw light at the end of an archway that mirrored the one he'd just entered. In the middle of the hallway was another door, but this one had a different stick sculptured symbol, a sword. Ronan pushed on this door, but it did not move. He considered whether he should try harder to open it, but the far away light was calling to him so he continued walking toward it. As he passed through the doorway at the other end of the corridor, he realized he actually _was_ in Anne’s dream forest.

“Ronan?” Anne asked as he turned to meet her eyes.

“Anne? How am I here?” he asked. He had never traveled in his dreams before and it was all very jarring. He had to remind himself that he wasn’t actually in the forest, but in Anne’s forest dream space. These two things were often one and the same for them so it was difficult to keep them differentiated in his mind. 

“We’re dreaming, I suppose,” she said, drawing in the sand on the ground. 

“Are you working on something?” he asked.

“I”m just waiting for her,” Anne said absent-mindedly.

“Who is _her_?” Ronan asked, although Anne’s thoughts seemed almost too far away to answer.

And then, as if their mutual intention had brought her there, a young girl came bounding into the field about a hundred yards away from them. Her dark hair and dark skin were complemented by the bright red and yellow flowers that made up a crown on her head and her perfectly matching dress. She was picking flowers all along the field, one by one adding them to a multi-colored bouquet. 

Anne’s eyes brightened when she saw the girl. She jumped to her feet, then seemed to remember herself. “Whenever I get too close, she disappears.” 

“She’s probably just your anchor, Anne. She lets you know you’re dreaming so you can dream shit.” Ronan never really realized how many things about dreaming he'd had to slowly pick up on his own until he tried to explain it to another dreamer. 

“No.” Anne shook her head. “She’s my sister, Lily.”

“Oh,” Ronan said, watching Anne watch the girl. Anne looked a bit like a jungle cat, waiting to pounce on its prey. “She’s still probably your anchor. You just have to be extra careful with her. You don’t want to accidentally bring her back and have two fucking sisters to deal with.”

Anne’s face twisted in response to this. It looked almost grotesque on such a sweet and pure face as Anne’s. “My sister is dead,” she said. The words sounding hollow as she spoke. 

Immediately, Ronan knew what was happening here because it was something that he had thought about for hours on end since his mother’s death. When his father died he didn’t know the extent of his ability, so it had never really been something he had considered. But when his mother was unmade by the demon, being a dream object already, Ronan had considered trying to pull her from a dream again. He had even dreamt her - many, many times. 

But the thing he'd come to realize, the thing that made dreaming his mother feel false, was that he had only known one aspect of her. He had known her as his mother and as Niall’s wife, but who she was with his father alone, who she was without any of the Lynches, was a mystery to Ronan. As much as he wanted her back, as much as he wanted to undo what was done, the dream Ronan would produce would not be his mother. She would have been an entirely new person, an echo of who his mother had been. 

This felt like such an enormous thing to try to explain to Anne in this moment. He understood her pain and what she wanted more than he could convey to her. And he knew she didn’t really want to hear what he had to say, so he simply asked, “What happened to her?”

Anne finally disengaged her gaze from her dream sister and looked at Ronan. Her eyes were wet and red. “She had cancer,” Anne answered. “It was awful.” 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that dream Lily had started to dance away from the two of them. Anne’s attention shifted back at the motion and she immediately started to move toward the girl. Ronan reached out and grabbed her wrist as gently as he could. “Let her go,” he said quietly. 

“No,” Anne said as tears streamed down her face. She pulled her wrist from him and ran to the other side of the field. But just as soon as she got there, the girl had disappeared. Ronan gave her a moment and then went over to make sure she was okay.

“Ronan, why the hell would you do that?” Her voice was shaking.

“She’s not your sister, Anne,” he said. “I promise you that.”

Anne’s face was full of pain and fury. She turned her back on Ronan and then she was gone.

***********


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gansey & Blue Pov! The gang goes to Cabeswater to speak to Artemus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a longer chapter. I'm likely not going to post on time next week because of the holiday so hopefully this will hold people over. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone for reading and your commments!

Gansey had everything he had ever wanted. He'd found Glendower, he'd faced a demon _and won_ , he had his life, his future, he had friends who truly knew him, and he had what he had grown to want most of all: Blue. 

None of these things had happened in the way Gansey had imagined, but that, he had discovered, had been the best part. What he thought was inevitable, a road he was traveling without an ability to diverge, ended up being a branching network of infinite choices. The world was his, he just had to reach out and grab it.

And that was what he was doing today. He was going to Cabeswater to grab his future. He could feel it laid bare in front of him, ready for the taking. He closed his eyes for the briefest moment, only long enough to get his bearings, to bring himself back to the present. He had learned how to use the feeling of time slipping as a guidepost, a way to confirm he was on the correct path. He felt them all barreling toward their destinies. 

The Henrietta sky was a vivid blue, scattered with only a few soft, fluffy clouds of pure white. Everything felt sharper when Gansey was here, like life had been brought into clear focus. How he had missed this place. 

As he drove, the streetlights flickered out of the corner of his eyes, a familiar consequence of ley line surges. He thought Ronan had protected the line energy so that it couldn’t attract others or be drawn upon, but that didn’t seem to be stopping whatever was making those lights turn on in broad daylight. Maybe it was merely an everyday electrical problem, but something inside Gansey said it wasn’t. 

He turned to Blue, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the Pig, fiddling with the radio dials. Gansey reached out and grabbed her hand, stroking the spot between her thumb and forefinger with his own thumb. She smiled back, warm and bright and brilliant. Sometimes he couldn’t believe he got to have this.

“So, my mother said they're seeing more activity from the canyon since we left,” Henry yelled over the music from the backseat. “Similar kinds of things that Parrish and Lynch were seeing in their territory.” 

Blue was rifling around in her bag as Henry spoke, her nods the only indication she was listening. This had become their routine. Status reports in the car, driving to the next destination. The thrill of seeking out the unknown, the _something more,_ with the windows rolled down, air blowing through their hair. Wrestling with the uncertainty of what their next quest was while eating trailmix and yogurt, since that was still the only thing Blue would eat. A mixture of the everyday and the sublime.

Gansey knew it was his destiny to find Glendower and kill the demon, but for a while it felt like maybe that's all there was. It took a few months after he was given his new life for him to start to wonder if the demon, Glendower, and the discovery of their entire magical menagerie may have been just one mile marker on a greater journey. 

“Hey, share!” Henry held out his hand to Blue, who pulled out a piece of gum and placed it in his palm. She popped another in her own mouth and held out a stick to Gansey. He shook his head, pulling out a mint leave from his pocket and placing it in his mouth.

“Did her—I don’t know—people? Is that the right word? Did her people find any signs of others at the site?” 

“Her henchmen?” Blue suggested. 

Gansey cringed. The same word had come to his mind, but it made Henry’s mother sound like a bond-esque villain, which wasn’t his intention.

“These dudes are absolutely henchmen,” Henry agreed. “You do not mess with them, or else...” Henry blew a gigantic bubble and popped it to emphasize his point. “Yeah,” he said to answer Gansey’s question, “they found some candles and other items that seemed to indicate that someone performed an unidentified ritual near the GPS coordinates we gave them. It's likely someone is trying to find our teeny, tiny Cabeswater, especially if it's on the vortex like Parrish suggested.”

“Have you learned anything from the book photographs?” Blue asked as she continued to fiddle with the radio dials. It took an act of congress to get the three of them to agree on music. The song she landed on had a strong bass line and an intense drum beat. Henry started banging on the back of Blue’s headrest in time with it. Two out of three was usually the best they could expect on this particular issue. 

“Not much yet,” Gansey admitted. “It starts with setting up the basic mythology of King Arthur and Excalibur. It’s all stories I’ve read versions of before.” Blue nodded and looked out the window. Her hair looked so soft and shiny in the sun light. Sometimes Gansey still forgot he was allowed to touch it. “I want to read it from beginning to end so it will likely take some time.” 

Blue started playing with the radio again. “Hey!” Henry exclaimed from the backseat as she broke the temporary music detente. Gansey looked over at her again. He couldn’t believe that it had taken him this long to realize Blue’s fidgeting was her nerves at seeing her father. She had said a few days ago that she wasn’t looking forward to this, but Blue was so good at steeling herself and putting up a strong front that Gansey sometimes forgot big important things like seeing your father for the first time in months would have an impact on her. 

“Don’t-” Gansey began. _Don’t worry_ had been what he wanted to say. But he choked back the words, unsure of the right way to say it. He had to be so very careful now. He was leery of any undue influence he could hold. His words were now weapons.

Blue appeared to not hear his hesitation over the music, her attention again focused out the window. 

Gansey turned the wheel to pull off the road into the clearing where they had most often entered Cabeswater. The BMW was already parked there, Adam leaning against the passenger door, arms folded. Ronan was sitting on the trunk picking at his leather wristbands, Chainsaw perched on his shoulder. Both looked less than pleased to be there. 

When Gansey got out of the car, Blue was already calling to them “Ronan, you look like hell. What is wrong with the two of you?”

Blue was right. Ronan looked especially unkempt, his shirt wrinkled and his boots shoved on with their laces still hanging. His eyes were dark and and his entire posture was slumped. Ronan typically felt larger than life, but now he was very small. Chainsaw picked at the collar of his jacket, seeming as though she was trying to snap him out of it.

“Nothing’s wrong, “Adam muttered, clearly lying. Bags were under his eyes as well. It was a familiar and disturbing sight on Adam. Gansey hadn’t realized that he had gotten used to seeing him rested and healthy. 

“Just didn’t fucking sleep,” Ronan stood to join the group. “Nothing new.”

Adam and Ronan continued to stand far apart. They weren’t always overly affectionate with one another, but in the last few years they were always in one another’s orbits. Even when they were arguing, they always circled around one another. Except in this moment, they felt like they were in different galaxies. It was unsettling. 

Gansey knew if he pushed the issue it would likely start an argument, so he bumped fists with Adam, grabbed hold of Blue’s hand and said to Ronan, “How does this security system you put on Cabeswater work?”

“It’s still fucking difficult to find,” Ronan was still picking at his wrists. “But once you find the entrance, you can’t go in without saying a password.” 

“So, since I'm a Cabeswater virgin, tell me, how do we find it?” Henry had been standing back and observing. Gansey suspected he was still unsure of his place with Adam and Ronan and since they were both clearly in a mood, he was likely giving them a wide berth.

Blue and Gansey both looked at Adam. Ronan continued to look at the ground. Adam shrugged, “I haven’t tried it yet, but I might be able to feel it again.” 

As they walked through the woods following Adam, a familiar feeling grew stronger inside of Gansey, a strange sensation he had begun to believe was his own ability to identify ley line energy. It had started on their line explorations a few months ago—a feeling of belonging, the same feeling he got when he was in Henrietta. 

Adam stopped and closed his eyes. Gansey saw Ronan finally look at him when he knew Adam couldn’t see it. It was a pained look. Gansey’s stomach tied in knots. He had always feared that Adam would destroy Ronan. And now his face was showing the stress fractures that could come from loving Adam Parrish.

“This way,” Adam said. He opened his eyes and led the way forward. The trees around them started to change, the cold, dead branches showing signs of small green buds. The wind began feeling warm on Gansey’s face. 

Adam stopped as they came up to two strange rock formations. They looked almost as if they had been circular wells, but instead of water, they'd been filled with medium sized rocks that overflowed to small hills on top of the bases. “This has to be it. I can’t walk through.”

“Yeah, this is it,” Ronan agreed, as he pet Chainsaw’s feathers.

Henry tested their assessment by continuing to walk forward. His body twisted after only a few steps and suddenly he was walking in the other direction. It was a strange sight to see.

“Wait, what?’ He stopped, his back to the group, then he turned around to face them again. “Freaky,” he said as he came back to join them.

“What’s the password, Ronan?” Blue asked.

“I made it something that Opal and Matthew could remember if they ever needed to get here.”

“Ok, so what is it?” Gansey asked.

“It just came to me in my fucking dream. Don’t fucking laugh,” he said.

“Just spit it out, Ronan.” This was the first time Adam had said something to Ronan directly. Though his tone was sharp, it didn’t actually sound as icy as the silence had. 

“Semper ubi sub ubi,” he snapped.

Gansey stifled a laugh. Adam was also smirking. Gansey was glad to see it. 

“What’s so funny?” Blue and Henry said in unison. When they didn’t get an answer, Blue asked again, “What’s it mean?”

“It’s a child’s pun,” Gansey explained. “Ubi means ‘where” as in the place, but the whole sentence sounds like a silly English phrase when translated.”

“Meaning?” Henry clearly didn’t find this explanation helpful.

“Always where under where,” Adam said, now laughing outwardly. Ronan’s mouth didn’t break a smile, but amusement played in his eyes.

“Sound advice,” Henry commented, looking over at Blue who shrugged. 

“Shut up, all of you. It’s Matthew’s favorite Latin joke. I’m gonna go now, you assholes can decide to join me or not,” Ronan said as he walked through the two stone piles and disappeared.

“Semper ubi sub ubi?” Henry tried it as the rest gathered themselves in front of the entry way. He stepped forward and easily followed Ronan into nothingness.

Gansey held out his arm, gesturing for Blue to go next. “After you, Jane.”

“Semper ubi sub ubi!” Blue shouted as she skipped through the entrance.

“Hey Adam,” Gansey said as soon as they were alone. “Is everything ok?” 

Adam’s smile fell. “I hope so,” he admitted. “Semper ubi sub ubi.” He saluted at Gansey and walked through after the group. 

Gansey sighed. He hadn’t expected Adam to give him a long explanation of what was happening in their brief moment alone, but he had hoped he would have told him _something_. Gansey was used to them fighting. If Ronan was awake, there was a ninety-eight percent chance he was fighting with someone and a ninety percent chance it was Adam. But Gansey couldn’t stand to see the two of them this far away from one another.

Even alone Gansey felt absolutely ridiculous muttering the Latin phrase. But he did not want to be left behind, so he complied and joined the rest on the other side. 

***********

Blue had everything she had ever wanted. Well, no. She had thought she wanted to go off to college, that it would be the only way to make a difference in the world. But she had started to see the future that her mother and Calla had seen. One where possibility was a wide open space, stretching as far as her eyes could see, instead of a narrow corridor with a door slammed shut. She had Gansey and adventure and friends whom she loved more than she thought was possible. It was more than Blue had ever really dared to hope for, but it all felt as if it had an expiration date. 

Blue hoped that finding her father would help put together the puzzle around the Knights of Caledfwlch and somehow give a reprieve to the members of their group with inevitable futures. Gansey’s parents and Henry’s mother were already pushing them toward their next chapter, but Blue felt like this one wasn’t finished yet. 

When Blue got to the other side of the rock piles, Ronan and Henry were already waiting in the Rose Glen. Chainsaw had taken flight and was swooping over their heads. Blue felt a bit sad knowing that this had been Aurora’s home for a time. It must have been Ronan’s intention that had brought them directly there. She wondered if all their complicated feelings about Cabeswater was contributing to Adam and Ronan’s strangeness.

Henry had started wandering, exploring the magical woods. He was placing his thumbs on tree leaves. Each time he pressed one, a different colored bubble emerged and floated in the air. 

“This is absolutely amazing!” he exclaimed. 

Blue smiled and breathed deeply. She felt the energy of the trees hum inside her. Blue loved this place intensely and completely. Coming back to Cabeswater felt like the familiarity of a homecoming and the excitement of a new adventure all rolled into one. 

Blue walked over to Ronan and hip checked him. “Hey, what’s going on with you two?” she asked as she nodded back to the entrance.

“Parrish is being a fucking baby, that’s what,” he answered as he watched Chainsaw pick at the grass. 

“About what?” she pressed.

“I couldn’t fucking tell you,” Ronan shrugged. 

“ _Ronan_ ,” Blue said with the same intonation as she'd say _come on_. 

Ronan looked up as Adam stepped out from nothing. Adam ran his hands through his hair, looking a bit uncertain, and then wandered off to keep an eye on Henry. 

“He’s pissed about Luke,” Ronan said. 

“Luke? The mechanic Luke?” Blue asked. 

“Is there another fucking Luke?” Ronan retorted.

“Well, not that I know of, but what does he care about Luke?”

“He thinks I didn’t tell him that we’re friends because...because, I don’t even know. Because he thinks there is something going on between us? There’s zero reason for him to think that.”

“Oh.” Blue now understood. “How did I know about him then?” Blue was doing her best to be gentle, although it wasn’t something she was particularly good at and Ronan tended to respond better to a freight train rather than a feather touch. 

Ronan gave her a death glare. “Because apparently I have a big fucking blabber mouth when I talk to you assholes.”

“Look, all I'm saying is that it seems like maybe he's pissed because you guys aren’t talking enough and the solution to that isn’t to stop talking.” Blue punched him in the shoulder.

“Fuck off, Sargent.” He punched her back. 

“Good talk,” she said as she walked over to join Gansey at the rock piles.

When she got to him, he wore a troubled expression. She knew he was likely worked up over the current Ronan and Adam rift. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled his forehead down to hers. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“I should be the one asking you that,” he said. “Do you still want to do this?”

“Just because my dad is a disappointment doesn’t mean I can’t deal. I don’t expect this to be too helpful, but it’s worth a shot.” She let her arms drop. Grabbing hold of one of his hands, she led Gansey over to a tree. “Besides,” she continued, “I missed this place.” She touched a ladybug on the tree trunk and it fluttered into a butterfly. Gansey’s face lit up with wonder as it always did when he witnessed magic. No matter how many times he experienced it, he never took it for granted. She loved that about him. 

The entire group took some time to revel in the beautiful magic of Cabeswater. Even though Blue had been in another magical forest, albeit a small one, this place always felt special. It was the pulse that ran through all of them, a connection that kept them all tied together no matter how far they had traveled away from one another. 

The collective joy of the group was immediately shattered by the ground violently seizing and the trees shrieking. It was an awful sound, full of pain and fear. Blue’s heart raced as she grabbed ahold of Gansey to steady herself. 

“Cabeswater, what’s wrong?” Ronan yelled. “What is that?”

“Energy,” the trees responded. “Too much energy. Trying to get free.”

“Shit,” Ronan swore and stomped off. They all followed Ronan as he muttered a slew of swear words under his breath. It only took a few minutes of traipsing through branches and leaves before they had entered another clearing, this one with a huge metal wheel sticking up from the ground. 

“What is this, Ronan?” Gansey asked. 

“A valve to keep the magic in Cabeswater. I dreamt it when I was trying to figure out how to keep nosey magic assholes away from Henrietta. Apparently it's working a little too well. I’ve been trying to dream more to drain it, but I guess it hasn’t been enough.” 

“So what happens if we open it?” Adam asked. “Will all of Mr. Gray’s enemies come flocking here?”

The ground shook again. This time it was enough force that some branches fell and Henry and Adam both tripped and toppled to ground.

Ronan immediately ran over to Adam and helped him to his feet. Chainsaw swooped down and landed on Adam’s shoulder. Gansey grabbed Henry and walked him to the valve, using the wheel like a railing. The rest joined them, grabbing ahold of it for stability.

“Opening the valve could make this place easier to find,” Blue said. “But what’s the alternative? Cabeswater exploding?”

“Jesus, is that what would happen?” Henry’s voice was uncertain.

“I have no fucking idea, but I don’t think the trees would be crying if it was something good,” Ronan answered.

“We probably don’t have to open it completely,” Adam posited. “Just enough to release the pressure.” 

“Okay, well let’s try then,” Gansey agreed. “On three. One, two, three.”

All five of them pulled on the valve as hard as they could. The thing did not budge. 

“Ronan, how is this supposed to work?” Blue asked. 

“I don’t fucking know. I thought this _was_ how it worked.” He ran his hand over his head. “I was dreaming when I closed it. Maybe it needs to be moved by magic?”

The ground shook again with more intensity. Chainsaw called out, “Kerah!” as she launched into the air. This time Blue ducked down on the ground to protect her head from the falling branches. 

“Ronan, look out!” she heard Adam yell. When the ground had stopped and Blue looked up, there was a tree branch that was at least two feet thick hanging above Ronan’s head. No, not hanging. Floating. The branch was _floating_ above Ronan’s head. Adam’s hand was stretched out as if he was holding the branch up by sheer force of will. It took Blue a second to realize that it looked that way because that was exactly what he was doing.

Adam’s eyes look terrified. He was still as a statue. 

“Adam?” Ronan’s voice was soft. “Are you alright?” His eyes shifted hesitantly from Adam to the projectile of wood above his head.

Adam nodded, but otherwise didn’t move. Gansey pulled himself over to the other side of the wheel and put his hand on Adam’s shoulders. “Adam,” he said softly. “Adam, put the branch down.”

Immediately, Adam shifted his hands and somehow moved the branch from above Ronan’s head and placed it on the ground. 

“Holy shit.” Henry’s mouth was agape. Blue had seen so many fantastical things and yet she was still in shock. 

Ronan ran to Adam and wrapped his arms around him. Adam was shaking furiously. “I’m okay,” Ronan whispered. “You’re okay. We’re all okay.”

The ground moved again. This time it wasn’t stopping.

“We’ve got to do something now,” Henry urged.

“Blue, take my hand.” Adam held out his hand. “Gansey, tell me what to do.”

Blue grabbed Adam’s hands as tightly as she could. She imagined helping him be stronger, helping him more easily move the valve. Gansey looked back and forth between the two of them, uncertain. 

“Fucking now, Dick,” Ronan yelled.

“Open the valve, Adam,” Gansey instructed.

Adam held out his hand and it began to turn. The movement of the ground slowed. 

“Okay, stop,” Blue said, pulling her hand away. Adam’s eyes were still fixed, his body unmoving. “Gansey, tell him to stop.”

Gansey paused for a moment, eyes pleading. “Gansey!” Blue entreated. “Quick, before the ley line surges.”

“Stop, Adam,” he said quietly. When he spoke, Adam’s eyes appeared to refocus. He put down his hand and collapsed on the ground. In an instant, Ronan was there, picking up the pieces.

Blue could see Gansey’s emotions written all over his face. It was disdain for what he had just done, despite the fact that the others had asked him to do it. Gansey had refused to attempt his power of command since he had come back to life. He claimed he thought it was something he left in his old self, but Blue knew he never wanted to force anyone to do something they truly didn’t want to do. Doing so seemed an inevitable consequence of the ability. It was the opposite of being Gansey. Blue reached out and squeezed his hand. Gansey squeezed back as if to say _I’m ok_ , but he didn’t look up.

“Adam, I-” Gansey began. 

Adam looked up at him and shook his head. “There’s no reason to apologize.” Ronan helped him on his feet as he brushed himself off. “I asked you to use your command, Gansey. I don’t know how I made the tree move. I wasn’t sure I could do it again without your help.”

“Was that just another case of us manipulating Cabeswater with intention?” Blue asked. “It seemed different.”

“It felt different,” Adam agreed. “Kinetic. It wasn’t that I changed Cabeswater with intention. I controlled it.” He looked at Gansey. “ _We_ controlled it.”

“Well, maybe you should try again, just in case it becomes useful later.” Henry was sitting on the ground, clearly shaken. Blue had learned that Henry was most practical when he was under duress, likely a coping mechanism leftover from some of his childhood traumas. 

Adam and Ronan stood close together now, their body language betraying them. Ronan was again standing at the ready to protect Adam from any unexpected dangers they may face; Adam’s posture was mirroring Ronan, the only person he seemed willing to lean on. Blue smiled to herself, glad to see that they had both put their stubbornness aside. 

It always felt like a strange fever dream to remember she and Adam had dated, only a brief moment in the group’s expansive timeline. Back then, Adam had been so guarded, so full of anger and suspicion of everyone’s motives. But somehow, Ronan with his jagged edges cut through Adam’s seemingly insurmountable wall, the shift between them made clear by the sweet sincerity they shared in the quiet moments when they thought no one was looking. 

“Dumbass is probably right,” Ronan agreed, putting his hand on Adam’s shoulder.

“Thanks, I think?” Henry said standing up. He walked over to a large rock and started to touch it, making it sprout beautiful roses. Each time he made another flower, his body appeared to incrementally relax. 

Blue walked over to Henry and interlocked her arm in his. “You feel more like yourself here,” Blue observed.

“Funny, that’s exactly what I was just thinking.” Henry’s eyes always looked a little sad when he talked about his inner self. “Cabeswater responds to me like Robobee. Is it like that for the rest of you?”

“Most of the time,” Gansey answered. “But we had to learn how to speak its language. Seems like you picked it up right away.” Blue was relieved to see him come back to the group. Henry responded to Gansey’s acknowledgement with a small smile. “So, Adam, let’s see if you can do that without my help.” Gansey suggested. “How about this rock?” He pointed to a medium-sized rock on the ground. It looked like it probably weighed five pounds.

“Use the force, Luke,” Henry quipped. Adam gave him a side eye and Henry cringed. Poor Henry. He didn’t realize that Luke was likely the last name Adam wanted to be called at this moment. 

If the reference bothered Ronan, he didn’t show it. “Just try it, Parrish,” He nodded at the rock as he stroked Chainsaw’s beak, soothing the bird after the previous chaos. 

“Fine,” Adam said. He stretched his arms out above his head and then shook them out to his sides. He twisted his neck back and forth, trying to loosen himself up. Then he closed his eyes and became as still as a statue.

Blue stood there waiting, not really knowing what else to do. After staring at Adam for a few minutes, she started to feel awkward. So she shifted her gaze skyward and noticed that it had changed to a number of colors, oranges, reds and purples, bright from the setting sun. When they had entered Cabeswater an hour ago, it was only one o'clock in the afternoon. Time was so strange here. It is possible this dusk sky could continue for hours.

A vibrant, multi-colored bird flew over her head, singing an eerie melody. She watched it as it landed on a tree branch to rest and clean its plumage. She wished she could be that bird, beautiful and free, gliding elegantly wherever the wind took it. Her gaze shifted back only when she heard a “Whoa!” and noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. 

Adam was still standing still with his eyes closed. She wasn’t sure if he had moved at all since she allowed her mind to wander. But the rock was now floating about a foot off the ground.

Ronan stood beside him with his arms crossed, a satisfied smirk across his face. 

Gansey and Henry were moving silently toward the rock, trying their best to not break Adam’s concentration. Henry waved his hand under it, eyes full of disbelief despite what they had all just seen. 

“Jesus,” Adam said, his eyes now open and staring at the rock. He sounded as though he didn’t really believe he could do it either.

The sky was growing dark quickly. Blue wondered if it would be difficult for them to find their way back without the sun or if they'd have to walk to another point in Cabeswater that still had daylight. A bright moon rose in the sky and cast long shadows on the ground. 

“The fucking ley line energy is so high here.” Ronan was digging in his jacket. “Shit changes even more quickly than usual.” He pulled out a cracker and fed it to Chainsaw.

Adam set down the rock. _With his mind_ , Blue thought. It still didn't seem real. 

“That’s something some scary people are gonna want,” Henry commented, his eyes now serious. 

“Henry.” Gansey’s voice held a warning.

“You can’t let them get a hold of you, Adam.” Henry shivered, clearly lost in the past. 

“Henry,” Gansey insisted again. “You’ve gotta be careful here. You could-”

Before Gansey could finish the long shadows on the ground started to twist and turn. “Cabeswater, cut the shit,” Ronan ordered. Blue suspected that this new version of Cabeswater would favor Ronan even more than the old, but it seemed that sometimes the negative energy had a snowball effect that was difficult to derail. 

_The darkness can suffocate_ , Blue thought. It was a strange thought. It just came to her, as if it had been planted in her mind. 

Henry was now curled up on the ground, covering his head. “Henry! Snap out of it!” Blue said sharply as she shook his shoulder. The shadows had freed themselves from the ground and were making their way slowly toward the group. 

“Adam, can you do anything?” Gansey asked. 

He shook his head. “They don’t even feel like they're made of anything. I can’t figure out how to get a hold of them.”

 _You will die alone._ Blue shook her head, trying to shake the thoughts free. The shadow was now like a black tidal wave looming above, seeping forward, black tentacles reaching toward them. Adam and Ronan had joined Blue and Gansey and now all of them were pulling Henry back from the creature.

Dragging Henry was difficult. It took all of them working together to do so and it was only a few hundred feet before they all needed to stop to catch their breath. 

“Be Gone!” Gansey commanded, but the creature paid him no attention and continued to ooze toward them. Blue felt a moment of panic. If Gansey’s command would not work in this situation, all bets appeared to be off. 

There was one thought that was itching in the back of her mind. Blue had been thinking about how she could shut her energy off from others who were drawing upon her. If her energy was contributing to this shadow monster, then maybe she could cut off Cabeswater’s energy. There was only one way to find out.

“Grab a hold of me,” Blue said urgently. Ronan, Adam and Gansey just looked at one another, confused by her instruction. Blue grabbed Adam’s shoulder with one hand and then grabbed Gansey’s hand with her other and put it on her hip. Once she did this, Ronan seemed to understand and put one hand on her shoulder as held Chainsaw in the other. Blue then moved her hand from Gansey’s and put it on Henry’s shoulder while closing her eyes. She imagined a box around them. A shield. A container. An impenetrable dome that Cabeswater’s energy could not find its way into. 

As the shadow came upon them, it spread over their head, but didn't touch them. Blue fortified herself against it, keeping her focus on holding the darkness at bay. _The black will swallow us._ Blue’s thoughts again were not her own. 

“The black will swallow us,” Blue repeated. 

“How did-” Adam started to ask, “How did you know what I was thinking?”

“It’s what we are all fucking thinking,” Ronan spat. “Look at this fucking thing.”

“No, I don’t think that’s it,” Gansey said. “I thought the exact same thing as well. The exact same words. The exact same feelings, I would bet.”

“Henry,” Blue shook him again. She thought she knew what was happening. “Henry, is that you? Is that your thoughts?” Henry was now rocking back and forth. “Gansey, your command didn’t work because that thing is coming from Henry. You need to tell him to stop.”

Gansey’s prior pained look only briefly flashed over his face before he said simply, “Henry, think about light.” 

Instantly the sun rose, birds started singing and the sky turned a serene blue once more. Henry looked up at the group all standing over him. “Thanks,” was all he said at first. Once he stood, Blue wrapped her arms around him giving him a strong squeeze. “I hadn’t felt that way in a long time,” Henry admitted. “This place,” he began, “it grabbed a hold of a stray thought and just pulled it out of me.”

“I don’t know if it pulled it,” Adam said, fingers grasping his chin, deep in thought. This was typical of Adam. He would be silently watching and then, almost out of nowhere, he would make a cutting observation. Adam would be most quiet when his internal wheels were running at full speed. “We all heard it in our heads, Henry. I think you’re projecting your thoughts outward. That’s why it was so hard to stop it, we were all thinking the same thing.”

“It’s true, “ Blue agreed. “We all heard it.”

“So, this is ley line magic,” Gansey said, dusting off his pants and straightening the wayward hair that had been disheveled by the earlier chaos. 

“I think so,” Adam agreed. “It seems like the pooling of the energy has intensified all of our powers.”

“Mine is fucking the same,” Ronan appeared unconvinced. “So is Dick’s.”

“Gansey just used his command three times in a span of a few minutes, when he had only used it a few times in the past. The last time, he could only use it when he truly believed he was able. It was also on objects or the universe or what have you. Not on people, who have a distinct will of their own. I think that counts as a greater intensity,” Adam explained. “Your powers have always been...” Adam held his arms out and circled around him as if to demonstrate the expanse of Ronan’s power. “I don’t know if there is any way you could be more powerful, Ronan.”

Ronan grinned. “Damn straight.” 

Gansey shook his head. “Henry’s thoughts are projecting outward and Blue can now not only shut her power off from others, but potentially expand her boundary as a mirror to deflect ley line magic. Everything has gotten more intense.”

“Yes, exactly,” Adam agreed. 

“So what does it mean that we have released some of this magic out to the line? Is this something that could happen other places? Blue’s entire body lit up with the idea of it. She had never particularly wanted the ability to see the future, but she had always wanted to understand her abilities better. The idea that she could be more than a battery had occasionally presented itself, but the only avenue to discover more about her powers was through her father, who had been less than helpful. _Artemus_. Through all the commotion she had completely forgotten that he was the reason they had come here. 

“I think we have to consider the possibility,” Adam agreed. 

Henry stood up again, but was now holding his head. His eyes looked uncertain, as if his mind could not contain all the new information that had just been dumped into it. “I don’t know if I can keep from doing that again. I need to go.” 

This was an odd reaction for Henry. It wasn’t as if he dove into danger, but he wasn’t one to back down. He was usually determined to push through when things were difficult. This experience must have really shaken him to the core. Blue grabbed his hand and said, “We won’t be long. Let’s just see if we can find Artemus and then we can go. I’ll hold onto you to keep your thoughts from Cabeswater.”

Henry nodded and rested his head against her shoulder. Blue patted his head, trying to reassure him as much as possible. “Artemus!” she yelled, hoping that her intention would help call him to her. “Do any of you have suggestions on which way we should go to see if we can find him?”

“There are a few places where the trees are usually fucking chatty,” Ronan suggested. “Would he be with them?” 

“Possibly,” Blue agreed.

“It’s near where I used to dream Parrish, near the clearing,” Ronan explained.

“ _Used to_ dream Adam, huh?” Blue couldn’t help herself. It was the perfect opportunity to lighten the situation. Even Henry perked up with a smile.

“Shut up, maggot,” Ronan shot back. 

A small smile curled at the edges of Adam's mouth. “As much fun as it is to ponder the strange place that is Ronan’s psyche, I think he means that I was drawn there. He thought he was dreaming me, but I was actually scrying.”

Ronan muttered, “Asshole,” and hooked his arm around Adam’s shoulders. 

“Adam has a connection there.” Gansey had been taking in the entire scene, his pointer finger on his temple, his thumb on his chin, his brow severely creased with the weight of the situation. Gansey’s face was usually serenely beautiful, the kind of beauty that others interpreted as a symbol of care-free life; no one that attractive could ever need to be too concerned about anything. But his expression now made his countenance harden. It was incredibly sexy. 

“Let’s see,” Adam said as he closed his eyes. After a moment he opened them and said, “This way,” as he walked into the woods. Blue couldn’t tell if he was back-tracking the way they had come or if he was heading in a completely different direction, but she suspected it didn’t matter. Spacial direction also behaved differently here. 

It didn’t take long before they approached a clearing covered in a blanket of yellow daffodils. They were beautiful and radiant, creating a gold ring around the area where Blue suspected Adam had played Sleeping Beauty. “Artemus!” she yelled again. This time the trees swayed in response. “We’re not leaving until you talk to us!” Henry’s eyes pleaded with Blue in response to her threat. He did not want to participate in a stalemate with her father.

Blue looked at Gansey. His eyes were soft and understanding. This was Blue’s fight. Blue’s father. Blue’s decision. “Come on, Dad. How can you hide from your own daughter!” Blue was absolutely fed up with his cowardice. 

“Not hiding from you,” a soft voice came from the trees. “Staying where I belong.” This was her father’s only inclination that Blue understood. She often yearned to crawl up inside the trees and be one with them. Since she was only half _tir e e'lintes,_ she hadn't inherited the ability to wear the trees as her father did, but she still longed to do so. She wondered how her mother had coaxed him out of the tree all those years ago. At this point in time, it seemed like an impossible task.

“Fine,” she said. She didn’t want to waste time trying to get him to come to her, not while Henry still seemed so fragile. “Can you at least answer some questions?"

“Yes,” his voice came from behind the bark. Blue looked to Adam and Gansey, trying to figure out the best way to pull information from her father who had never really been interested in communicating. 

“Do you know what the Order of the Ravens is?” Blue asked.

There was a moment of silence before she heard a quieter, “yes.”

“Who are they?” Gansey asked.

“Killers,” Artemus answered.

“Super fucking helpful,” Ronan muttered. He looked bored, as if he was just waiting for this futile exercise to end.

“Stay away from them,” Artemus warned. 

Adam dug into his pocket. “What about this?” He held up the silver raven. “Do you know what this is?”

The tree shook a bit before answering, “Marred. It belongs to Marred.”

“But didn’t she die in the tower of London?” Gansey asked.

“No,” he answered. This is the exact kind of conversation people meant when they said _it’s like pulling teeth_.

“Then when did she die?” 

“She didn’t,” Artemus said, as if his answer sounded perfectly logical.

Gansey made a little humming sound, which usually meant that he had just confirmed a suspicion. He and Adam exchanged a look as if they were deciding whether to continue down this particular path. Adam nodded.

“Why do you say that?”

The trees rustled without an answer. “Artemus?” Blue called. Still no answer. “Dad?” she tried again, hoping to appeal to whatever humanity he had left. “Why do you think Marred is alive?”

“Because she tried to wake the demon,” he answered after another pause. “Blue,” he said, for the first time seeming to acknowledge that she was, in fact, more than a passing stranger. “Whatever has led you to Marred, go the other direction.” 

“Does he mean she tried to wake that creepy thing recently?” Henry asked. “Is that why he was down in that crazy cave place? But how could she still be alive?”

“Both Gwenllian and Artemus are hundreds of years old, most likely due to the ley line. It isn’t a huge leap to think she could have also been impacted by the line as well,” Adam surmised. 

“Dad!” She called. “We need to know more.” “Dad?” The trees went still, giving a non-answer answer. The conversation was done. 

Blue didn’t need to be psychic to know exactly how her interaction with her father would go, but that hadn’t made it any easier. The reality of who her father was as a person was so disappointing. She had tried to be understanding. Her mother reminded her time and time again how much he had experienced. But hadn’t they all been through more than the average person could handle? They were all still there, facing reality, wanting to to do the right thing. Her mother said she was being too harsh, but Blue didn’t think so.

Blue threw her hands in the air with an exasperated yell and started toward where she thought the entrance to Cabeswater was located, dragging Henry along with her in the process. She was almost too busy seething and stomping to notice the strange architectural feature they had come upon. It was a woven archway that lead off into the distance as far as she could see. She paused to examine it, giving Adam, Ronan and Gansey the chance to catch up. 

“Hey,” Gansey said gently when he joined her, “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” she answered as she tried to direct her attention to the strange feature. She had lived most of her life without her father. There was no use getting upset over the loss of him now. 

“Is this something else you dreamed?” Gansey asked Ronan. 

“Nope, this is the same strange shit that was in the other dream forest,” Ronan was walking around it, inspecting the parts of it. 

“The one there had a door inside of it,” Adam added. 

“To where? Here?” Henry asked.

“Or maybe they both lead to the same place,” Adam suggested. “But we don’t know for sure. The other door wouldn’t budge.”

“Actually,” Ronan began. “I went through this one in my dream. It went back to the other one.”

“Wait, you did?” Adam’s voice was hurt. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?”

“You weren’t fucking interested in hearing anything I had to say when it happened.” 

Gansey side-stepped the current squabble and walked into the strange archway made of tree branches. Blue was still holding up Henry, although he had relaxed a bit and was rubbing some leaves on the trees and turning them different neon colors. _Not this again_ , she thought. It felt like a foreign stray thought and she wondered if that was Henry again. 

“This one is sealed shut too,” Gansey said when he reemerged. 

“There was also another door inside,” Ronan offered. “It had a sword on the door, instead of a raven.”

“Seriously, Ronan?” Adam sounded beyond irritated. “You didn’t think that would be helpful information?”

“We can’t fucking open them anyway, so no, I didn’t think it was something I had to tell you right away considering you weren’t really talking to me. You just want a reason to be pissed at me right now.” 

Watching them go back and forth was like watching a slow motion car crash. Stepping in meant risking being part of the wreckage, but poor Henry continued to look uneasy and they had all been through a lot for one afternoon so it was best for all of them to shut this down. “Guys,” Blue tried to step in. 

“Of course, Ronan,” Adam spat. “I must be making this all up. It’s not like this is another example of you withholding important information from me.”

“C’mon, guys, we’re all tired. Why don’t we just call it a day.” Henry said. They were clearly not listening to any of them.

Ronan groaned. “Jesus, Parrish. Just because I didn’t share every minor detail about the people I’ve met in Henrietta since you went to school doesn’t mean I was hiding something from you!”

“Adam and Ronan, can we just -” Blue started, but was interrupted by Adam saying in a loud voice, “Oh that is just so typical, Ronan!”

“Just stop!” Gansey’s voice was like a steel wall that brought all the arguing to a halt.

They all blinked at Gansey. He blinked back. The silence was heavy between them. “I’m sorry,” the Gansey politeness returning. “Can we just head home now?”

“I think that is wise,” Henry agreed. 

Blue nodded, Adam looked at the ground and Ronan picked at his wristbands. They all were in agreement. 

It wasn’t long before they came back to the two stone piles to exit Cabeswater, likely led there by the groups’ overwhelming shared desire to find it. As the rest of the group stepped out, Blue took one last look around. Despite the fact that her complicated relationship with her father would now and forever be intertwined with Cabeswater, she would always love this place. She felt a pang of sadness to be leaving without knowing when she would return again. She sighed, closed her eyes and stepped out to their constrained lives beyond the border. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam, Ronan and Opal head back to Adam's college. The study group makes a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'm hoping to go back to the chapter a week schedule, but I'm working on a major plot development and would like to get a few chapters set before I post. I'll do my best to be timely! Thank you to those of you who continue to read this story!

The drive back to Bates went relatively quickly thanks to Opal’s presence on the trip. Her reactions to random roadside scenes entertained both Ronan and Adam and she broke the chill that seemed ongoing between them. Opal insisted on sitting in the front so that she could have a better view to play _I spy_ with Ronan, which was fine by Adam as it allowed him to let his mind wander in the back.

He spent a good amount of the drive reviewing the tensions in their relationship, hoping to discover another angle to approach them from. Adam liked problems with defined parameters and solutions. There was no solution for Ronan Lynch.

For the rest of Adam’s break, Ronan mostly grunted and shrugged when Adam made any attempt. It wasn’t as though Ronan had shut him out completely, they were still together every day, spending time reading with Opal and playing games with Matthew, but even when they were in a room together he felt miles away. 

When Ronan was truly working through something—when he was in the most turmoil—he tended to retreat from everyone. In the past he would drink, get into fights, or go racing. Adam wasn’t sure what exactly changed his behavior, but after Opal became his responsibility and he and Adam started dating, he took off less often and came back after only a few hours. This time, he was clearly making the effort to stay around. Adam was grateful for that, at least.

On New Year’s Eve, they hung out with Henry, Blue and Gansey and had pizza at Nino’s. At midnight, they were in the BMW outside the Barns, Adam sat there looking at his fingers, wondering what he could say to make things right. “Happy New Year,” Ronan murmured and kissed him slowly, brushing Adam’s cheek with his fingers. Adam felt elated and desperate all at once. But the only other word Ronan said to him that evening was “goodnight.” He hadn't tried to touch Adam since. 

Adam still didn’t think Ronan understood why he was upset. He also didn’t think there was anything more he could say to make him understand. When he thought about the physical distance that would soon once again be between them, all he felt was dread. 

Ronan and Opal would have to rent a car and drive back to Henrietta because flying with a dream child was inherently risky. The saving grace was that they'd be staying for two weeks, since the drive was so long. That’s how long Adam had to fix this. 

When Adam grew weary of his lack of new Ronan-related ideas, he would go through Gansey’s notes on the Red Book. Gansey had been able to translate about twenty pages of the Red Book so far. He was frantically working on it whenever he wasn’t with his family or planning their trip back out west. When the group had said their goodbyes, Blue, Henry and Gansey told them they would make their way up to Maine in February. But first, they planned to go back to the strange mini-dream forest to see if the opening of Cabeswater had had an effect there. 

Now that the magic had been released, Mr. Gray would also be keeping an eye on Cabeswater while Adam and Ronan were out of town. And Adam was already devising plans on how to monitor Anne’s dream forest. None of them really knew what they were looking for, but they at least had to try to stay ahead of whatever might come next. 

The section Adam was currently reading now told of a man and his sons who tried to wake a line in ancient Rome. The brothers ended up killing both each other and their father when he got between them. The author of the book was clearly trying to understand the most effective and safe ways to wake the lines, noting the similarities in circumstance when there were successful line wakings. 

Shane had said that five magicians were needed to wake the line. From the stories Adam had read so far, three told of groups who had successfully woken the line and two of them had five people with magical abilities. 

In the one case without five, a shepherd and his wife, a priest and the town mayor woke a line to try to kill a demon in Scotland in 1103. Indeed they had been able to wake the line, and then successfully laid it to rest to rid themselves of the demon, but the priest and the shepherd had died in the process. Adam wasn’t sure if this really had to do with the number of magicians involved, or if it was the sacrifice needed to get rid of the demon. _Willing life for unwilling life._ Killing their demon had not made the Henrietta ley line dormant so it wasn’t a perfect comparison. Nothing seemed to be. 

Still, if this trend continued with the rest of the text, Adam imagined that Shane’s hypothesis was correct. Gansey had also made similar notes in the margins. He also wondered at the significance of some drawings that appeared at the top of each section of the book, circles with different amounts shaded in. _Stages of the moon?_ Gansey had written. Adam made a note to look up the stage the moon had been at when he woke the line in Henrietta. 

Ronan pulled the BMW into a rest stop off of I-95. “I’ve got to piss. I’ll be right back,” he said, and jumped out of the car. 

Out the window, people were filing by to go into the rest stop building. For a moment he saw...something. It was just a flicker. A possibility. He focused his attention, trying to figure out what had caught his eye, trying to make something happen. He'd tried this a few times—controlling objects in the normal world with his mind the way he did in Cabeswater. But so far, he had been unsuccessful.

“Adam, look!” Opal said, pointing out the window in the direction Ronan had gone, where there were two large statues on the front lawn. “What are they?”

“Those are moose, Opal.” he answered. 

“Are they magical too?” She clawed at the headrest as she jumped up and down on the seat.

Adam laughed. “No, they just don’t live around Henrietta.” 

Opal brushed her hair out of her eyes and then pressed her face up against the passenger side window. “Are you and Kerah fighting? You aren’t talking much” she noted, fogging up the glass as she spoke. 

“No, Opal. We’re fine.” Adam didn’t want her to worry. “We’re just both-”

“Sad?” Opal asked. She had started drawing designs on the steamed up part of the window with her finger.

“Yeah,” Adam admitted before he could think better of it. 

“Because you are going back to school.” This time Opal wasn’t asking a question, she was stating a fact. 

“Hey, O.” Adam reached out and grabbed her hand, “You know I’ll be back, right? And we’re going to have lots of fun while you visit, won’t we?”

Opal nodded and started jumping up and down again, just as Ronan got back into the car.

“Settle down, wiggle worm,” Ronan said and handed her a snack. “And buckle up. Here, Parrish.” He threw Adam a pack of peanuts.

“Thanks.” Ronan's eyes met Adam’s in the rearview mirror for only a moment before he shifted them away. Adam’s stomach sunk. 

“Only about an hour more, Opal,” Ronan said. Adam went back to his reading because it was the only thing he could do to keep his mind off the gulf between them.

***********

Adam had only been back in Lewiston a day before he got a text from Anne asking him to meet the study group atThe Den, the on-campus pub. Ronan wouldn't admit he was anxious to see Anne, but when Adam mentioned it, he immediately insisted that he and Opal join them. It was the most significant thing he had said to Adam in the last week. 

When they arrived at The Den, the entire place was abuzz with activity. Plates and glasses clinked, while a blender whirled in the background and multiple televisions blared different programming. 

Adam ignored the chalkboard specials list and went straight to the counter to order while Opal twirled around the line. When she wore the red boots, her only mode of transportation was dancing. The novelty of being able to move with such grace and deliberateness had not worn off and he imagined it wouldn’t any time soon.

In a corner booth, Shane and Stace were drinking coffee while Anne and Rhys shared a basket of fries. Shane was leafing through pages of a book, his glasses askew, But Rhys’ eyes were glued on Anne and the animated story she was telling, his smile easy as he watched her. 

Stace watched the television above them, seemingly lost in the local news. “—two Livermore Falls men were admitted to St. Mary’s hospital for signs of psychosis. Officials are testing the water supply and gas lines at their home for potential contamination as some sort of poisoning is suspected,” the anchor was reporting as Adam, Ronan and Opal approached.

The group didn’t acknowledge them until they joined their table, which was interesting, Adam noted, because the door to the restaurant was in a prominent spot where everyone could see who entered. They seemed to be acting casual, a behavior that Adam always found a bit suspicious. 

“Adam!” Rhys stood to greet him offering his hand over the table. “How was your break?”

“Excellent,” Adam said. “And yours?”

“Fantastic! Fascinating! We have so much to discuss! Sit, sit,” he said, offering them the open spots in the booth. He looked at Opal. “And who is this?”

“I’m Opal!” she declared, climbing up into the booth next to Anne. 

“Nice to meet you Opal,” Rhys said. 

“Hi, Opal,” Anne said with a smile. Shane didn’t look up from his book, but even Stace gave Opal a soft smile, an expression that looked somewhat strange on her.

Adam slid in next to Opal, while Ronan grabbed a chair from another table to sit at the open part of the booth. He turned the chair backward and shifted his leg over it so that he was sitting with his arms resting on the back of the chair. The casual arrogance of the gesture was seductive. Adam’s eyes lingered on the piece of skin above Ronan’s jeans that showed as he shifted himself in the chair to remove his coat. 

He had to force himself to turn his attention back to Rhys and Anne. Rhys’ easy smile had been replaced with a complicated expression. “Is she-” he began.

“Look!” Opal bounced out of her seat to point at the window above the booth. “Look at that dog! He’s beautiful!” Someone had walked past with an adorable golden retriever puppy, who momentarily stuck its nose in the ground-level window. Opal shared Ronan’s love of animals and her excitement around them was never well-contained. She hit the table, causing the water cups to shake and topple. 

“Jesus, watch it!” Shane yelled as he jumped up with his book. “What the hell is a stupid kid doing here anyway?”

“Hey,” Ronan stood up. Opal’s face fell as she buried it into Adam’s chest. “You don’t speak to her like that. Ever.”

Shane looked up at him. Ronan had a good six inches on him, but it wasn’t only his height that made him appear to loom over Shane. “Opal is with me. End of discussion.”

Shane huffed as he wiped water off his book and pants and then stormed off to the bathroom. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Anne said softly to Opal. She began digging through her purse. “Do you like beads?” Opal nodded, still grasping onto Adam’s shirt. “Here,” Anne said, sliding a bracelet with multicolored beads onto Opal’s wrist. She pointed to a bright aquamarine bead.“I think this one matches your eyes.” Opal smiled and twisted it in her fingers.

 

Ronan had returned to his seated position, arms across the back of the chair, picking at his wristbands, any evidence of his previous encounter wiped clean.

“So why did you want to see me?” Adam asked.

“We took some trips out to the dream place,” Stace began. 

“Lilyhaven,” Anne muttered. 

Ronan’s eyes flicked up at the name. 

“Right,” Stace agreed, looking at Anne carefully, “Lilyhaven. We went out with Anne once after Christmas.”

“Anne said she saw you,” Rhys said, looking at Ronan. Anne was awkwardly staring at her hands. Adam knew Ronan and Anne had met in a dream, but since they hadn’t been talking much, he didn’t know the details. He couldn’t even imagine what could have happened to make them all act so strangely. “Everything was pretty much the same. We didn’t find the cave, but the archway was still there.”

“But then,” Stace continued, still watching Anne, “we went back this past weekend and it had changed.” 

“Changed how?” Adam asked.

“Well, for one, the cave was easy to find. We pretty much tripped over it. It was exactly where it had been the last time we had found it." Rhys leaned forward significantly. "And, it grew.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “It got bigger?” 

“It was twice as big,” Stace confirmed. “And the entire forest, the trees, they were talking. To Anne. And everything was just...well, magical. The trees, the animals, the sky, everything.” 

“Oh.” Adam looked over at Ronan who was now hunched over, resting his chin on his arms. “Manifested dreamscape?”

Ronan nodded. “Pretty much.” 

The others just stared. “Anne dreamt it,” Adam explained. “As she gets stronger, it will likely grow and become more complex.” 

“I think the time to wake the line is getting closer,” Stace said flatly. From her lack of reaction, it seemed Anne had already told her the same thing. 

“Cabeswater existed for who knows how long before I woke the line,” Adam said. “I don’t think this is a sign that the line will be woken.”

“It isn’t that.” Stace shook her head. “Stuff is still fuzzy around the vortex, but this feeling of dread, it just keeps growing.” She picked at her fingers, jaw tight.

Rhys reached out and grabbed Stace’s wrist. Her shoulders instantly relaxed and she let her hands fall apart. “Thanks,” she said to him.

When Shane rejoined the group, the sour look was still on his face and his shirt had a rather large wet spot on the bottom. “There’s a new moon in a few weeks,” he said as he sat down. “It will probably be the best time to do it based on what the Red Book says.”

“So we do it then?” Rhys asked. 

“Yes.” The rest of them nodded, except for Anne, who was showing Opal more items in her purse, and Ronan who was brushing his thumb across his lip, clearly rolling something over in his mind. 

“Fine, yes,” Adam agreed. 

Shane looked at his watch. “Good, I’ve got to go. We’ll meet at Professor Solis’ house next Friday afternoon.” Without any niceties, he got up and left.

“What’s wrong with him?” Adam asked once he left.

Stace watched Shane as he walked out the door. “His grades took a dive last semester so he’s in a shit mood. Don’t mind him. He’s harmless.” She grabbed her coat. “Anne, I’m going to head back home. Do you want to come?”

“Sure,” she agreed and started gathering her things. Adam stood up and grabbed Opal, who was pouting once she realized her new playmate would be leaving. 

“Don’t go!” she said, reaching out to Anne. 

“We can play again,” she said softly, stroking Opal’s hair. 

“Anne, I-” Ronan began, still not really looking her in the eyes. There was a crease in his forehead that he only had when he truly felt sorry for something. It wasn’t an expression Adam saw much, if ever. 

“It’s fine, Ronan,” she said. “I’m not doing anything stupid.”

“Do you need me to walk you?” Rhys asked as Stace stood to follow Anne out of the booth. 

“No, I think we’re fine,” Anne said as she reached out and squeezed his hand. He lit up a bit for that brief moment. Adam wondered if Anne noticed how devoted Rhys was to her. 

“Okay, I’ll call you later then,” he said. Stace patted Rhys on the shoulder and nodded to Adam and Ronan as the two of them walked out the door. 

Rhys barely waited for them to be out of sight before he said, “I’m going to have to tell her, Ronan.”

“Tell who what?” Adam asked as he sat Opal back in the booth. She busied herself by making a sculpture out of her leftover fries and chicken fingers.

“Anne.” Rhys’ expression was now quite pained. “I have to tell her Opal is from a dream. I can’t _not_ tell her. I don’t keep secrets from her.”

“I understand.” Ronan was finally looking at them. “But I think I should tell her.”

Adam frowned, feeling like he was missing something. “What does it matter to Anne if Opal is from a dream?” 

“Anne’s sister passed away tragically a few years ago,” Rhys began. “When she started having more control over what she dreamt and what she brought back from those dreams, her sister also began showing up in them. Suddenly, she was talking about bringing Lily back with her.”

“When I went to her dream, she told me what she was trying to do,” Ronan added. “And I told her that her sister wouldn’t be _exactly_ her. I told her that dream people were real people. Different people. And that she shouldn’t try to dream her. I didn’t tell her that I already _had_ dreamt people.”

The thought had never actually occurred to Adam, which seemed absurd now. Why wouldn’t Ronan have considered dreaming his mother or father back to life? He dreamed another Ronan in the church. A Ronan who bled to death on the floor. Another Ronan who wasn’t merely a copy of him, but another person. The whole scene took on an additional layer of gruesomeness in this new light. Adam felt sick to his stomach.

“She’ll regret it if she does it, Rhys. You’ve got to convince her not to try.” Something in Ronan’s voice reminded Adam of the time he was unsuccessful at waking his father’s dreams. Adam was certain that Ronan didn’t mean he regretted dreaming Matthew and Opal, but the weight of responsibility for a dream person wasn't something to be taken on lightly.

“I don’t think she's going to for now, but the existence of Opal could change her mind.” Rhys’ face was a sea of worry.

Ronan slid on his jacket and shoved his fists in the pockets as a sign of his determination. “Then I have to convince her.” 

***********


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm a firm believer that Adam and Ronan show more than tell, but sometimes one of them drives the other crazy enough to blurt out some true feelings with words. So here's that. Enjoy more fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [wildflowersoul](http://archiveofourown.org/users/wildflowersoul/pseuds/wildflowersoul) and [Tenillypo](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenillypo/pseuds/Tenillypo) deserve all the praise because their betaing has now got to be clocked at 100+ hours. If you enjoy this fic at all, it is in huge part due to their efforts. They are awesome.

Ronan had been disappearing all week. It gave Adam quality time with Opal, but left him with few opportunities to fix things between them. At least his new classes were interesting, and adding an additional one hadn't had much of an impact yet. Trying to study while Opal chewed his pens was a bit more difficult, but Adam found the distraction endearing. He was almost always surrounded by people at school, but he didn’t realize _how_ lonely he had been.

Adam had been studying a lot at the Bed and Breakfast. He'd taken a liking to reading on Ronan's bed, the pillow smelled like leather and defiance. This particular day, Opal had been entertaining herself by playing a game with Chainsaw where she pointed at a bead on the bracelet Anne had given her, hoping to train the bird to pick up a specific color. It didn’t appear to be going too well as Chainsaw would mostly pick and caw at random beads. Occasionally Chainsaw would fly off with it, playing her own game of keep away as Opal jumped to try to catch her.

When Ronan returned, he slammed the door with a typical Ronan vigor. His face was calm, cool. Adam had no idea he could miss insolence so much. 

“Kerah!” Opal greeted him, wrapping her tiny hand around his. “Can we play in the snow? I want to play outside!”

“Fuck, Opal, that shit is so cold,” Ronan grumbled. 

“Please!” she protested.

“Fine, for an hour. Get your coat and boots. And find your fucking mittens.”

“I’ll come too,” Adam said, closing his book. Ronan shrugged as if to say ok. That was the best he would get these days. 

The four of them headed out to the campus. There was an extremely small pond, affectionately called the Puddle, where Opal liked to walk and play. She'd already grown familiar with the campus in the past week and now she led the way, running after Chainsaw as she flew around her. Adam and Ronan silently followed, walking side by side. It was one of the first times they'd been alone together in the past few weeks. 

When they arrived, ice had frozen over the surface of the water. The sun was gleaming off it and the snow crusted branches that surrounded the pond. The cold appeared to be keeping the students away; there were only a few other people walking past on their way to their own destinations. Opal started to climb over the rocks surrounding the water’s edge when Ronan called out “Stay off the fucking ice!” She hung her head in a pout, but quickly regrouped and ran toward the field on the far side of the path that surrounded the pond. 

Adam and Ronan slowly followed, the silence between them feeling like a weight around Adam’s neck, dragging him down. He had no idea what Ronan was thinking—he never acted like this. Adam was all tied up in knots. Was this it for them? Did Ronan just come back here for Opal? For Anne?

“Are you done with me?” Adam almost whispered. The tiny boy inside him wanted to run and hide. If he was quiet, maybe Ronan wouldn’t stop wanting him.

“What?” Ronan looked at him, his brow furrowed. “What are you fucking talking about?” His voice had heat, something Adam had longed to hear for a while.

“You barely say anything lately. You’re just not here.” Adam still couldn’t look at him. He never could when they talked like this. It wasn't something Adam Parrish ever did before Ronan. True feelings were not softly spoken, they were protected by just fury. It made him feel like he was a soldier throwing away his shield and armor, exposing his soft belly to a spear. One sharp move by Ronan and he would be dead. 

“For fuck’s sake, Parrish! Are you kidding me? You were the one who was pissed at me! I can’t fucking win with you.”

“Oh no, Ronan. Don’t pretend like things haven’t been screwed up.” His anger was making him bold. It could become a barrier between them if he let it. 

Ronan sighed. It was a huge, epic sigh. It was the sigh of a person who was tired of the struggle. Adam wanted to vomit. He pulled himself back and said evenly, “I don’t want it to be this way. If you want to end this, I get it.”

Opal and Chainsaw were now over in the adjacent field throwing snow and building what might have been a snowman. Adam watched them out of the corner of his eye, hoping she didn’t notice them arguing. 

“Parrish!” Now Ronan was practically yelling. He looked Adam straight in the eye and said, “I love you, you fucking idiot! I am not going anywhere. You need to cut this shit.” 

Adam stood there stunned. He tried to remember whether his parents had ever said those words to him. He thought they must have when he was very small, but he couldn’t remember one single instance. The words themselves sounded foreign, strange, false.

“Are you sure?” Adam responded without considering how that sounded. He just didn’t believe it. 

“God fucking damnit Parrish,” Ronan yelled again,grabbing Adam's coat and pulling Adam to him. “Will you fucking shut up! You are so fucking annoying.”

“You’re no prince either.” Adam teased, wrapping his hands around Ronan’s waist and slipping them under his jacket. 

“You fucking love it, we’ve already established that,” Ronan said. And Adam leaned forward and kissed Ronan to show him that he was right, even if Adam was often too stubborn to admit it. And when he pulled back, he lingered, cheek to cheek and whispered, because that was the only way he could get it out, “I do too.” It wasn’t exactly the right words, but Adam meant them all the same.

Ronan nodded and then pulled his head back to look at him again. “You are such a fucking sap, Parrish. It's so fucking gross.” 

This time Adam punched him, feeling the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders. If he had Ronan, he could do anything. “Then why have you been acting like such a complete and total dick?”

“You were so pissed. I was trying to figure out how to fix...this,” he said, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets. “And once I figured it out, it was—I don’t know—it was a hard decision.”

“Ronan, what are you talking about?” Adam shivered, rubbing his arms for warmth. Ronan took his hands out of his pockets and and started rubbing Adam’s arms along with him. 

“I decided that Opal and I are going to move here. For now. I found a place for us to live. It’s a house a little out of town, lots of woods nearby so Opal can still go on her fucking field trips or whatever she does.”

“That’s what you’ve been doing?” Adam couldn’t believe how wrong he had been. “But what about the Barns?”

“The Barns will be there. It isn’t going anywhere. It survived without anyone there for a over a year. And we’ll go back for summers and breaks.” 

“But Ronan, being at the Barns was all you wanted for so long. How can you give that up?” The end of that sentence was _for me_ , but Adam couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“God, Adam. I can’t believe you are fucking going to make me say this. You’re right. I always wanted to go home.” Now Ronan was looking at the ground. “The Barns will always be a place I want to be. But for Opal and I, wherever you are is home.”

Ronan was changing his life for him. Ronan Lynch who was impulsive and immediate was making plans for the future, their future. Until this very moment, Adam hadn’t realized part of him still thought he wasn't as important as Ronan’s past. But Ronan always knew how to catch him off guard. 

“Ronan, that's…" He stopped, overwhelmed. Ronan had just laid himself bare before him, offering Adam something no other person had ever offered him before, something Adam thought he never would be allowed to have. Ronan wanted _him_ more than he wanted anything else. What could he say that even came close? "When will you come to stay?” he asked. 

“Whenever. Now. We have it now. And I think I could help Anne. And help protect Lilyhaven. And keep an eye on your dumb ass so you don’t get into too much fucking trouble.” 

“Ok, so when do I get to see your place?” Adam glanced over at Opal, but she was still safely distracted, now running around in circles chasing Chainsaw. 

“Adam,” Ronan frowned. “Come on. You’re going to come live with us, right? I don’t want to fucking move all this way to still be away from you for the million hours you study every day.”

All the reasons why Adam shouldn’t came bubbling up to his lips: the fact that he had been living rent free with Ronan at the Barns—only barely tolerable because Ronan didn’t pay money for it either. The fact that he was committed to his housing for the rest of the year. The fact that Ronan would likely not let Adam pay for rent at this place. 

But Ronan was looking at him with those eyes. Eyes that were soft and pleading, that said Ronan needed Adam as much as Adam needed Ronan. Being wanted was such unfamiliar territory for Adam. Sometimes he forgot it was possible and acted without consideration. He was trying to stop and think about how his protestations impacted others. 

He nodded. It was the best he could do. “I need to tell you something too,” he said, coming to a decision. It was time to clear the air and start fresh. “I’ve decided to take some extra classes and graduate a year early. I know you think I work too hard and you're going to tell me I don’t have to. But I won't give you shit about renting this house and asking me to stay with you if you don’t give me shit about this. Alright?”

Ronan nodded. That was probably the best he could do.

Opal must have finally gotten tired of playing with Chainsaw because she came running back toward them with a pile of snow in her arms. She threw it on Adam and Ronan and screeched. The two of them looked at one another for the briefest moment before they took off running after her and tackling her in the snow. With Ronan and Opal here to stay, Adam could almost forget about the strange magical cloud looming over them. With Ronan and Opal here to stay, Adam was certain he could face whatever was coming.

***********

The house Ronan had rented was a small white ranch-style home surrounded by trees, only a fifteen minute drive from Bates. All the other neighborhood houses were a comfortable distance away beyond the tree line, and as Adam got out of the car, he instantly noticed how quiet it was. No wonder Ronan had chosen it. 

When they walked in, Adam was surprised to see that the kitchen had a table and the living room had couches and chairs. Still, it was stark. There weren’t any distinguishing features to the home, no photos or clutter that made the Barns feel so warm. The hardwood floors creaked as he wandered down the hallway. There was one floor and three bedrooms, each with a bed, dresser, and night stand. For a moment, Adam thought Ronan must have rented the house furnished, but when he looked closer at the master bedroom, he noticed that the furniture was the exact same as the Barns. 

“Did you have your furniture shipped here already?” Adam asked.

Ronan cocked an eyebrow at Adam waiting for his realization. “Wait, you dreamt all this?”

“What do you think I've been fucking doing all this time?” Ronan’ grin was evil. He loved it when he astonished Adam and somehow he continued to do so on a regular basis.

“I had absolutely no idea, hence the freak out,” Adam admitted. 

“This is my room!” Opal called out from the first bedroom. The springs on the bed promptly registered their protest as she began jumping on them, a familiar screaming sound from many nights at the Barns. 

“I can’t believe you did all this in one week,” Adam said, taking a moment to sit on the bed. He brushed his fingers over the blanket, marvelling at the fact that Ronan had made it. 

“I told you dreaming here was fucking easy for me.” Ronan was now leaning against the door jamb, piercing satisfaction spread across his face. He tried to pretend that since he spent so much time not giving a fuck about things he couldn’t experience pride, but the opposite was true. He was always proud of _how much_ he didn’t give a fuck about things, and if Ronan accomplished something that he actually deemed worthy of his time and attention, he was insufferable. 

“I can’t imagine what dreaming is going to be like once the line is awake.” He looked over his shoulder down the hall and then turned back to Adam. His voice was a bit lower when he asked, “Do you think if we wake all the lines, that the dream stuff that Cabeswater is made of will spread?”

“You still want to find a way to make sure Opal and Matthew live if something happens to you,” Adam said. It wasn’t a question. He knew Ronan would never stop trying to ensure their future. Adam reflected for a moment and nodded, “I think there is a good chance of that.” 

Ronan’s face was set with certainty. “It’s time to fucking wake some magic then.”

***********


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Grandmaster continues her scheming. Adam gets ready to move in with Ronan, but is interrupted by a task given to him by Mr. Gray. Ronan and Opal do domestic stuff.

The Grandmaster detested meetings in public. Meetings discussing the Order’s business should be clandestine, done in cloaks, after dark. Unfortunately, time would not allow this, so instead she had to be satisfied with an office in an almost abandoned second floor of the former campus center. Being an alumna and a large donor allowed for some perks - use of building space without many questions asked.

She opened her phone to read a status report from the Southwest Commander, and in doing so, marveled at the small object for the millionth time. The average person would find the Order’s belief in magic to be a break with reality, but none question the magic in this little box. The many advancements of humankind appeared mystical and strange until they didn’t. 

The Southwest Commander’s message detailed that Mr. Gansey was again snooping around the vortex there, although he and the other two appeared to have no idea what they were looking for. Her legion of followers were waiting in the shadows for the right time to act. And that time was imminent. So imminent, in fact, that she was sitting in this office in broad daylight, awaiting the arrival of the Northeast Commander. 

A light rap on the door indicated that her wait was now over. “Come in,” she said as she spun in the chair behind the desk. She wondered for a moment why the college kept asking her for more money to build new buildings when they had empty spaces like this. 

The young man quietly closed the door behind him and quickly sat in the chair in front of the desk. His nerves had shown more as they approached this critical time, but she knew he would not falter in his task. He believed this is what his family wanted. Fidelity to family was always a vulnerability waiting to be exploited.

She breathed deeply, feeling the power of the line. It would soon all be hers. The eternity of planning would all be worth it. She leaned forward, a devious smile on her face as she said, “It is time.”

***********

Adam wasn't moving all his things to the new house—it was practical to have a home base on campus, and there was no way to get out of his housing contract at this point anyway. But he wanted to start packing before the semester pressure got too much.

As he packed up a few boxes, he realized he still didn’t have much to take. Even after living in this room for four months, his life was pathetically easy to pick up and move. 

“Hey, still unpacking?” Nick asked as he walked in the door. 

“Hey, man.” Adam got up to greet him. “I wondered when you were getting back.”

“Yeah.” Nick nodded. “My sister had a family thing to remember my parents yesterday. I couldn’t miss it.” 

“How was it?” Adam asked. Nick didn’t talk much about his family. He had only mentioned that he his parents died in a car accident a few years back so he spent most breaks visiting his older sister. Adam tried not to press too much. He understood the desire to not revisit difficult memories. 

“It was fine. Got to see some cousins I haven’t seen in awhile.” He smiled, his expression not matching the sullen tone of his voice. “So what’s with all the boxes?”

“Actually,” Adam said, grabbing the box he had been working on and opened the top flaps to keep packing. “I’m moving in with Ronan.”

“For real?” Nick asked, his expression dropping. “Now?”

“Yep, he just rented a house off of outer Lisbon Street.” Adam put the rest of the contents of his desk into the box before he closed it, grabbing the packing tape to seal it up.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Nick sat down on his bed. He looked tired, worn. It was unusual for him. 

“It isn’t really a big deal,” Adam said. “We’ve lived together before.”

“While you’re going to school? Having to commute to campus will be a total pain in the ass.” 

“I’ll still keep some stuff here. I’ll be around.” Adam was touched that Nick would miss him. “This is still my room so don’t screw it up too much.”

“Too bad,” he said, leaning back on the bed. “You leave and you forfeit any roommate privileges.”

Adam was about to come up with a smart retort, when his phone rang. Mr. Gray’s name flashed across the screen. “Sorry, I need to get this,” he said, holding up his phone. Nick nodded and grabbed his computer before laying back down on the bed.

“Mr. Parrish?” Mr. Gray’s voice was cool across the line.

“Mr. Gray,” Adam greeted. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Have you been following the local news?” 

“Not regularly,” Adam admitted. Mr. Gray was monitoring many different data points around the area. Local news and reports from his network were his main sources of information. Adam knew he should be doing the same, but as usual, his time and resources were limited.

“It seems that six people have now claimed they've seen ghosts in Livermore Falls, which is a town about thirty miles north of where you are.” Adam now remembered the news story of the suspected gas leak report he'd overheard on the television at The Den, although ghosts were never mentioned. This must have been info Mr. Gray obtained from one of his many sources. “It is unusual enough that I think it merits checking it out. Would you mind? I would go myself, but there have been some people snooping around Cabeswater and I wouldn’t want to leave it unprotected.”

“Snooping? Who?” Adam asked.

“Not quite sure. Maura has seen them in her visions, but we haven’t caught them yet. Cloaks, candles, ravens, the usual. We’ll let you know if we find anything.” 

“So what exactly am I looking for then?” Adam asked.

“I have no idea,” Mr. Gray admitted. “But hopefully you’ll know it when you see it.”

Adam hung up the phone. His first thought was that he needed to look up more about these news reports. His second thought was that he still had a hundred pages of reading to do for his politics class tomorrow. Yesterday it was two people affected, now it was six. It wasn’t likely that he had time to put this off. He needed to check it out now.

Adam’s face must have shown his distress over juggling his responsibilities because Nick immediately asked, “Something wrong?”

“No,” Adam said quickly, “just need to help out a friend. I’ve got to go. Sorry about the mess.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nick brushed it off. “Just don’t expect that I’ll be ok with you leaving all your crap lying around when you move out.”

Adam smiled, bumped Nick’s fist and took off out the door, trying to figure out the best way to check out this report. Ronan had Opal and he didn’t want to bring her anywhere that could even remotely be dangerous. Ronan also had the BMW.

Adam got out his phone and started reading the news articles on the incident. There wasn’t much else to go on. All six people had been hospitalized for raving about seeing inanimate objects move. One man, Joe Caron, specifically claimed there was a poltergeist in his home. Adam searched his name and found his home address. It was as good a place as any to start. 

He then texted the one person who could help him find what he was looking for: _You on campus? Need some help._

Rhys wrote back, _Meeting Prof Solis in 15. Come to her office?_

Adam turned up the left hand path to head over to Pettengill Hall. It was only about a five minute walk to Professor Solis’ office, but he had been meaning to talk with her so he figured he’d take advantage of the opportunity if she was free.

When Adam arrived, her door was open and she was sitting at her desk. Her dog, a westie named Bernie, was curled up on a spot on the floor where the sun was shining through the window. When Adam knocked on the door, the dog stood up, stretching slowly and licking its chops. It waltzed over to Adam, tail wagging merrily, eage for some affection. Adam leaned down to comply as Professor Solis’ looked up from her computer.

“Adam! Salve! Glad to have you back!” She stood and held out her arms. When Adam realized she was offering a hug, he awkwardly leaned in. She smelled fresh, like soap. 

“Are you here to talk about your major? Have I convinced you that studying Classics will enrich your interest in the law? The Romans built the foundations to our modern legal system. And I don’t have to extol on you the benefits of continuing your Latin studies.”

“Well, I’m continuing this semester at least,” Adam agreed. “I just haven’t decided what to do after that. I’m just not sure whether the lawyer thing is what I want.”

“Did you get that internship you mentioned?” Professor Solis sat down on the front of her desk. Adam had grown to admire her greatly. She was so sure of herself and the best path for Adam. He wished he could be as certain.

“Yes, I did,” he admitted.

“Well, there you go,” she said with a smile. “The internship will help. Also, I have some friends in the local court if you want to make some more connections, maybe job shadow for the day?”

“Great.” Adam smiled. “Professor Solis-”

“Edith.” Her correction had become a regular part of their rhythm.

“Edith,” he complied. “How did you decide to be an academic instead of a lawyer?”

“Well, Adam. There was a time when being a lawyer was very fulfilling to me, but it is also a certain life style. You are constantly working and counting every billable hour. It just wasn’t for me. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t for you. I decided to be an academic because I loved to learn and I loved the idea that my main job was to contribute to the education of others and to build the collection of human knowledge.” She put her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes as she said, “You don’t have to know what you want now. But if you follow the path to major in Classics you can continue to explore what it might be like to be an academic and even delve more into the magical history that we are both so passionate about. Just don’t put too much pressure on yourself to decide now. The answers will come, eventually.”

Adam was decidedly not comfortable with this advice. _Wait and see_ was never a life philosophy he could ascribe to. 

A light knock came from the door behind him. “Edith?” an unfamiliar voice greeted.

Professor Solis looked past Adam, a huge grin spread across her face. “Maggie!” she threw her arms up. 

Adam turned to see a regal woman standing in the doorway with Rhys at her side. She moved with a familiar poise and confidence, although Adam couldn’t figure out from where he might know her. Maybe she was famous? She looked like she could be famous. Her expensive jewelry and designer clothes told Adam she was definitely rich.

“Hello Adam,” Rhys greeted. He looked small next to this women, almost non-existent. 

“Maggie, this is one of our brilliant new students, Adam Parrish.” Professor Solis held out her hand toward Adam. 

“Adam, this is Rhys’ mother, Maggie Weston.” 

“Nice to meet you, Adam.” Her smile was commanding. “I hope your brilliance will rub off on my son.”

Rhys face looked sheepish at the comment. Adam understood a bit more about him in that moment.

“Maggie, do you have some time? I have some inventory I would love to get your opinion on. Rhys has certified their authenticity, but I think the historical context will help us put them at the right price point.”

“Mother.” Rhys had waited a few beats after she finished to be sure not to interrupt. “Adam needs my assistance. Are you amenable to me taking my leave?”

“Of course, son.” she waved him off breezily. “Don’t forget brunch on Sunday.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I’ll see you in class, Edith,” Rhys said, nodding to her.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Adam said as he held out his hand. She shook it again, appearing to size him up. “I’m sure we’ll meet again, Mr. Parrish.” Adam nodded and walked out the door with Rhys. Mid-stride, Adam’s mind shifted to the silver raven. It was a peculiar jump. But he could see it clearly in his mind’s eye. More now than ever, he felt as though there was something significant about the figure—he just wasn’t sure what it was yet. Adam’s mouth went dry, his stomach filled with the now familiar sinking sensation.

Rhys shuffled on his coat as they walked down the hall. “So, how can I help?” 

Adam pushed his sixth sense to the back of his mind. It was something he had to do often, else his attention would frequently shift to random pieces of information. Adam Parrish, gatherer of information, investigator of truth, still couldn't tell when he was being given a clue to a mystery or a mundane factoid.

Adam filled Rhys in on the strange reports in Livermore Falls and Mr. Gray's request. Rhys face grew hard at the mention of Mr. Gray’s name. “Distasteful fellow,” he scoffed. 

“I know he isn’t the most palatable person, but he shares our interest in protecting the magic of the line and he wouldn’t send us to check this out if it wasn’t necessary.”

“Fine, fine,” he said, shaking his head, demonstrating it wasn’t. But Rhys’ honor code dictated that he help Adam, even if he wasn’t fond of the idea. “My car is parked in front of Smith Hall.”

The two walked briskly in the January air, trying to outrun the wind. As Rhys fiddled with the keys, Adam shuffled to keep warm, jumping inside as soon as he heard the beep. When he sat down, he felt something on the seat and pulled out a lumpy pile of cloth. 

“I didn’t know you were on the track team,” Adam commented, looking over the track and field jacket. 

“I’m not. That’s Shane’s. He must have forgotten it here. Just throw it in the back.” Adam folded it up the best he could and tossed it in the back seat.

Rhys pulled out his phone and started typing. “How’s Anne?” Adam asked, assuming he was texting her. 

“Not great. She was going to the library to try to take her mind off of it. I just wanted her to know that I wouldn’t be stopping by like I thought,” he said, sighing. “I wish I could help her more, but her feelings are just so strong.” 

“What do you mean, _help her more_?” 

“I guess I never really explained it before. I can find dream objects because they give off a certain aura. And I can read people’s auras too.” Rhys glanced over at Adam, seemingly waiting for a reaction. 

“That’s not too surprising,” Adam said. “I know someone else who can read people’s auras.”

“Well, it isn’t auras in the same way as many magical people define them. It is more the person’s emotional state. Living creatures, dreamt or born have more dynamic energies. The more I studied them, the more I realized that they not only changed, but they were malleable.” Rhys paused and scanned the road straight ahead before he said, “If I focused enough, I could change them. It doesn’t always work, but it did with you.”

“You changed my aura?” Adam blinked at him. “When?”

“When we met,” Rhys said, pulling the car out of the parking spot. “You were kind of edgy when I introduced myself so when I shook your hand I just...tried to make myself feel more familiar to you.”

Adam felt a little violated. “Okay, that is kind of creepy.” His initial reaction to Rhys' Gansey-likeness had been fabricated. If he couldn’t trust his feelings, what could he trust?

He looked over Rhys considering his first impression. Upon inspection, he noticed Rhys' collar, pulled up and slightly askew, decidedly unlike Gansey. His brown hair, although perfectly in place, was a bit longer than Gansey would ever tolerate. The comparisons were still there, but he could see how Rhys' powers had somehow overemphasized them in his first meeting. It was an astonishing ability that Adam would have never thought possible without experiencing it first hand.

“You're right,” Rhys said sincerely. “I do apologize. I shouldn’t have done it without your consent, but the whole thing was still new and I didn’t really know I was doing it. Anne was the one who figured it out. And once I realized, I tried not to use it without the other person’s permission. It only works through touch so that helps keep it in check.”

“And even now after months of practice, I can’t always help Anne. Sometimes her grief is just too much, and I am just too weak.” Rhys’ face fell. He had what many would call boyish good looks, but in that moment, his face looked worn, aged by severity. He was a rock being ground to dust by the weight of a larger stone.

Adam searched for the right way to respond to Rhys’ obvious distress. This wasn’t Adam’s strong suit. “Look,” he said finally, “Dreamers are strong. They can make entire forests out of the sheer amount of strength inside themselves. I don’t think you should worry too much about Anne. She’ll realize that is all inside her. It just takes time.”

Rhys took his eyes off the road for a moment to blink over at Adam, a soft smile on his face. He nodded in agreement as they continued down the road, heading deeper into the Maine woods. 

***********

Ronan pushed the cart in the local ShopMart as Opal spun and twirled around it. Every few minutes, she would jump up on lower rack of the cart and hang of the edge of it, riding along then jumping off. “Be careful, you little puke,” he warned as she flew off and stumbled, just managing to catch herself before she fell to the ground.

The fluorescent lights somehow made everything and everyone in the store glaringly bright and washed out all at once. Occasionally, a shopper would glance at Opal and then up at Ronan. The two of them together often seemed to perplex onlookers, but only for a moment, until they went back to get their fucking case of three ply toilet paper. It wasn’t really different before Opal had her new boots. People never paid too close of attention. Even if there was a hint of magic, most people saw what they wanted to see. 

His stomach grumbled. They needed food. “Can we get this?” Opal asked, pointing at the peanut butter on the shelf. He grabbed it and some bread to go with it. Ronan wasn’t sure if Opal liked peanut butter because she actually liked it or because it had been Ronan’s favorite as a child. Ronan was pretty sure Opal didn’t even need to eat. His life was a gigantic mind-fuck.

Ronan felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was likely Parrish letting him know he was ready to be picked up to go back to the house. He could take it out and check, or he could assume it was him and just head over to pick him up after they finished shopping. Ronan preferred the latter, because the former made him feel like a pavlovian dog. Phone rings. Dog picks up the phone. Millions of people fucking mind-controlled by a tiny appliance.

Ronan filled up the cart to make sure that Parrish would be fed for the next few days. He was much less likely to grumble about eating food that was already in the house as opposed to eating take out. That, he would complain, was a waste of money. Ronan thought worrying about it was a waste of time, but he never said that to Adam because he would be driven crazy by the paradox.

Ronan continued on to the housewares department. They needed towels. And dishes. And silverware. Buying stuff was so ordinary, but Ronan was exhausted from dreaming so much for the house already and he wanted to save his energy. Ronan was going to need another car and Adam’s shitbox wasn’t going to make it up here. Adrenaline prickled with the possibility of dreaming another car - the smell of the leather, the smooth cold chrome, the weight of the car, made to go fast. It had taken Ronan a little time to realize that he wasn’t just a forger, a fucking photo copier, he was an artist, a sculptor. And he could choose his medium, even if it didn’t exist. He just had to be able to imagine it. It could be the fastest goddamned car on earth. His lip curled at the thought of it.

“I like these!” Opal exclaimed, picking up a bright teal towel with large purple and pink flowers. 

Ronan rolled his eyes. “Fine, you pain in the ass.” He pointed to the cart for her to put it inside, “But I’m picking the dishes.”

Opal rolled her eyes back and continued on, running her hands through the other sets of towels as she made her way to the end of the aisle. 

In the parking lot, Ronan’s phone buzzed again. He had learned that one message usually meant he could ignore it, two or more meant that either someone was in mortal danger or the sender would be royally pissed at being ignored. If the message was from Adam, sometimes the second situation was worse than the first. 

He opened the car for Opal and pulled out the phone. Two messages. The first was from Adam: _Went to check something out for Mr. Gray with Rhys. Be back in a few hours._ He wondered what kind of wild goose chase Gray was sending Adam on now. 

The second was from Anne. _Can we talk?_ He let out a breath. He had wanted to talk to Anne. Well, wanted was a strong word. He knew he had to. But Ronan never liked doing anything he had to do. In fact, his body seemed to physically rebel against it. He had picked up his phone a few times and even started to type a message to her. And then he deleted it. He hated everything. Ronan shoved the phone in his pocket and got into the car. 

When he closed the door, Opal was screwing around with the radio dials, a sly smile across her face. “Stop fucking around,” he told her, gently batting her hands away. “And put on your seat belt.”

Opal complied and snapped herself in. “What are we doing now?” she asked, wiggling in her seat.

Ronan sighed. He took out his phone again and typed _Yes_. “We’re going to see Anne.”

***********


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam and Rhys go exploring for Mr. Gray. Ronan has a talk with Anne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be on vacation next week so I'm hoping to get some serious writing done. I should at least be able to publish the regular chapter on schedule, but some major stuff will be happening soon so I'm hoping to post that in one chunk!

Anne picked the meeting spot. If it was Ronan’s choice, he wouldn’t go anywhere near the fucking _Ronj_. It was full of asshole hipsters. Hipsters here were cause-heads, fueled by espresso and righteous indignation. It isn’t like they didn’t exist at Aglionby, but they were a small group of self-congratulatory pricks. Here at Bates they appeared to have found others of their kind and multiplied. They would only wear second-hand clothes, but drink craft beer. They enjoyed their trust funds, but they wore poverty as an aesthetic. Their country of origin was the effing coffee shop. 

As Ronan walked in, he groaned at the orange walls. It occurred to him that the pretentious name was a pretentious shortening of the pretentious color orange. He hated orange. He hated everything.

Anne was waiting for them in the front room of the converted victorian house. Her yellow puffy coat looked huge on her slender frame; her black hair was free, matching the mass of her coat. 

“Anne!” Opal yelled, immediately running to her. Anne bent over and embraced the young girl gently. Her warmth radiated around them both. He hated everything.

After Anne got some tea and Opal got a snack, they made their way up the narrow stairs to one of the private meeting rooms. Opal chose one with a stack of games. _Monopoly_ , _Sorry_ and _Uno_ were among the selection. Opal pulled off her coat and thoughtlessly tossed it on the chair then started fucking around with _Sorry_ on the table.

Anne had taken off her coat and was busying herself dunking the tea bag in and out of the comically large purple cup the barista had given her. Ronan grabbed the end of his coat to remove it, but thought better of it, and sat down. If this didn't go well, it would be better to be prepared to leave fairly quickly.

“I want to be red,” Opal said, setting up all the red pieces on the board. “Anne, you can be yellow and Ronan can be green.” She slid the board in front of them. 

Anne smiled. “Youngest goes first.”

Opal beamed and pulled a card. “Awww,” she exclaimed when she wasn’t able to move one of her pieces.

“So,” Ronan started as he pulled a card, “is something up?” He and Anne had met a few times to practice dreaming, but they had never casually hung out. The entire thing felt very awkward. It was possible that Anne simply wanted to see Opal, although she didn’t mentioned Opal in her message. She definitely hadn’t asked him to meet just to hang out with him and his winning personality. 

Anne flipped a card. “I talked to Lily.” Her eyes flicked down to the table. 

Ronan let out a breath. “Okay,” was the only word he found in response.

“I just need to know why, Ronan.” She looked up, her eyes searching. “Why can’t she come back with me?”

Ronan flipped a card and moved a piece around the board. His life had often felt like this game. Three or four steps from home before he was knocked back to the start. “My dad was a dreamer too. Did you know that?”

“No,” Anne said, raising her cup and taking a sip of her tea. She set it back down on the saucer and circled her hands around the cup, waiting for Ronan to continue.

“He dreamt my mother. She did not exist before my father thought of her. He pulled her from a dream. And when my father died, she just...stopped. She only woke up when she was brought to Cabeswater. She could no longer exist outside of a dream without her dreamer.”

“Is she still there?” Anne’s eyes were soft, understanding. It hurt to look at her. 

Ronan shook his head. “It’s a long story, but she’s gone now.” He flipped a card again. “The point is, dream people need their dreamers to exist.”

“Sorry!” Opal sang out excitedly as she knocked Ronan’s piece back to start. 

“You little shit,” he admonished. 

“So if you die, I’ll go to sleep?” Opal asked. Like most children, when she heard a conversation of interest she would quietly listen, allowing those who were talking to forget she had ears. But unlike most children, she had never been innocent. She had seen the dark recesses of Ronan’s mind. She knew the reality of his dreaming and had seen first hand the violence that magic can bring. Ronan always protected Opal, but not from the truth.

“Yes,” he answered simply. Opal appeared satisfied by this, and grabbed another card.

Anne had been watching this exchange. When Ronan looked back at her she was as white as a ghost. “She’s...Opal’s…” was all she could say. 

“Yes,” Ronan said again, this time his voice sounded harsh, jagged. He swallowed hard. “Any time I’ve dreamt someone it has been an accident, Anne. You have to be very careful.”

“Any time? You’ve done it _multiple_ times? How can you tell me not to do it while Opal is sitting here, perfect and wonderful.” Opal gave a Cheshire-cat-like grin at this.

“I can’t fucking tell you what to do, Anne.” His fists were clenched, his nails digging into the palms of his hands. He wanted to break something. “I just want you to understand.”

“Understand what?” Her voice was louder now. It was the same tone she'd used when Ronan had first told her to let her sister go. It was Anne at her most vulnerable. “Understand that it is ok for you to create life, but not me? Understand that you think I am incompetent? I know my dreaming wasn’t great before, but I’m so much better now.”

Ronan shook his head. “No, it's not that. It isn’t about being good at it. It’s about who you hope this person to be and who they really are.”

Anne’s cup had started to make a soft clinking noise against the saucer it sat upon. Her hands were wrapped tight around it, shaking. “Do you have any idea what it's like to see someone you love disappear before your eyes? To go from being vibrant and beautiful to a mere shadow of themselves? The Lily in my dream was the old Lily. She wasn’t an echo, she was all of herself.” Anne was now standing, shoving her arms in her coat. “I’m not going to let that go.”

This is what he got for fucking caring. Ronan spent so long trying not to. It was so much easier. Caring meant dealing with irrational assholes who couldn’t or wouldn’t do what was in their best interest. Caring meant getting the emotional shit kicked out of you just for trying. It was the fucking worst. 

“Just think about it,” was all he could say. 

Anne made her way to the door and swung it open with a great deal of force. “You know Ronan, you’re just a gigantic hypocrite.” And with that, she left and slammed the door behind her. 

Opal was watching after Anne. “What’s a hypocrite?” she asked.

“A complete and total asshole,” Ronan answered, leaning forward to put his elbows onto the table and rub his temple with his fingers. This entire thing had given him an enormous fucking headache. 

Opal looked at him for moment, then nodded to herself as though this answer made sense. She then picked another card and moved her pieces around the board. In the face of conflict and chaos, the game must still go on.

***********

Joe Caron lived down a dirt road in the middle of the rural woods outside the tiny town of Livermore Falls. Adam’s stomach sank when they came to a stop in front of the tiny trailer. It was much more isolated than the four walls that were Adam’s childhood prison, but the mobile home itself was almost identical in shape and substance.

Adam saw a flutter of the curtain from the window as he got out of the car. He'd formulated a fairly flimsy plan on the car ride there to explain their intrusion. It wasn’t the lying Adam had trouble with; he could do that easier than breathing. It was coming up with a believable reason for the two of them to be out in the middle of the woods and at these people’s house. Adam had found that the best lies had at least a kernel of truth to them. 

Rhys made his way up the wooden steps and pulled open the screen to knock lightly on the front door. The path to the door was brown where dirt had been spread over the snow. Adam stepped lightly, trying to avoid getting the sludge all over his boots. There was a red tint to the wood from where it had once been painted but had worn off from the weather. The railing wiggled as Adam pulled himself up to join Rhys. 

Rhys knocked again without an answer. Adam leaned off the porch to see if there was any more movement in the window. Nothing.

“Hello?” Rhys called out, his head leaning into the door. “Is anyone there? We’d just like a moment of your time.” Here he looked even more out of place than usual, his pristine pea coat hanging open, revealing his tie, collared shirt and maroon v-neck sweater. There was no pretending that he was from around there. Rhys looked at Adam and mouthed “this isn’t working” before he opened up his wallet and started leafing through it. He then said “Mrs. Caron, we’re from the local college. People heard about your husband and we brought you some funds we raised. We have-” he counted, “two hundred dollars we would like to give you.”

It was so extremely insulting and Adam was furious for Mrs. Caron that Rhys was trying to buy his way into her home. That is, until he heard the click of the door. Adam sighed. People like Rhys did such things because they worked for them. Most people had their price. 

“You want to give us money?” A woman in her early thirties stood at the door, her blonde hair tied up in pony tail. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying. Everything inside of Adam went off. Something was seriously wrong here. 

Rhys shot her his winning smile. “Just a small sum that the students at Bates donated when they heard of the unfortunate accident that befell your...husband?”

The woman nodded. “May we come in?” Rhys continued in his most unassuming tone. 

She stepped back and opened the door to let the boys enter. This place made Adam’s entire being scream _get out_. The tiny kitchen with dishes piled up in the sink, the postage stamp sized living room with flimsy fold out chairs and tv trays. The large windows covered with heavy drapes to keep prying eyes out. 

The house itself was warmer than the winter’s cold, but not by much. Adam shivered and pulled his coat tighter around him. The two of them stood awkwardly by the front door entrance, which was also the kitchen and the entry to the living room. 

“We’re so sorry to hear about your husband’s accident, Mrs. Caron.” Rhy always prioritized pleasantries. 

“Liz,” she said. She had her arms wrapped around herself, eyeing them both uneasily. She was definitely not going to invite them in to sit down.

“I’m Rhys,” he said, “and this is Adam,” he gestured to the both of them, but did not offer to shake her hand. His hesitation appeared awkward and Adam wondered if he was avoiding touching her to keep from using his ability.

A familiar click and then a loud humming noise came from down the hallway off the living room. The furnace had kicked on. Adam moved himself six inches to the right to stand over the heating vent, allowing the warm air to wrap itself around his legs. When he was a boy and his father wasn’t around, Adam would grab a blanket and sit over the vent, capturing any warmth that was released with his protective barrier. Adam was surprised to find a fond memory of his childhood home buried deep down inside him. He didn’t like it. He preferred things to be straightforward, clear. Complicated feelings led to complicated actions. 

“Thanks for speaking to us, Liz,” Adam’s emphasized southern drawl surprised even him. He had relaxed control of his accent while at school, but his time in the north had already had an impact on how he spoke, making his current accent a strange mix of north and south. But still, he fell back into his Henrietta accent when he was back there or when he was trying to make the best impression possible with his southern charm and politeness. “We work for the student newspaper and we were very concerned when we heard your husband was impacted by this gas leak.”

She folded her arms, her face immobile like a statue, eyes vacant. “They aren’t really sure what caused it,” she admitted. “But yes, they are looking for a gas leak or maybe some water contamination. They’ve checked our systems and haven’t found anything.” 

“We think it’s our responsibility as journalists to try to hold the city accountable,” Adam continued. “Is there any place where he and the other victims would have been together? Anywhere they could have all been exposed?”

She wiped her hand over her face and mouth, a gesture of frustration and uncertainty. Before she could answer, a crash came from one of the rooms down the hallway. “Johnny?” she called out. “Johnny, what are you doing in there? Excuse me,” she said as she made her way toward the noise.

Adam looked at Rhys. He shrugged, apparently he hadn’t seen anything magical yet. Adam walked over to a photo hanging on the wall. It was Liz, looking much happier than she looked today, with a small boy, his face beaming. There was no sign of Joe Caron. 

“I’m sorry,” Liz said when she returned. “My son likes to get into trouble. Look, I don’t know any more than I told the paper. Joe and the others go to a lot of the same places around town. It’s small, we have one grocery store, one school, only two gas stations. Everyone knows everyone. I think the town is requiring all the utilities to check out those spots, but so far they haven’t found anything. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a better story, but right now my son and I are trying to deal with Joe’s illness the best we can.”

Another crash came from down the hall, followed by loud steps coming down the hallway. A young boy, probably around five years old, stood at the entrance. His eyes looked cautious when he saw the two young men standing at the front door. 

“Johnny! Momma asked you to be quiet while our guests are here,” she reprimanded. 

Rhys’ face changed at seeing the boy. He glanced over at Adam and nodded. He must have sensed something “Well, thank you for your time,” he said to Liz. “We really appreciate it. If you think of anything else, please do call us.” He handed her his card.

Johnny ran over to his mom and wrapped his arm around her legs. The sleeve of his shirt hitched up and Adam’s stomach dropped to the floor. Peeking out from under it was a dark blue bruise. It was a type of bruise he had seen before, three dark lines, made from fingers that had grasped too hard. Liz looked down and immediately tugged at his sleeve to cover it. If the bruise itself didn’t make Adam concerned, her reaction to it certainly did. 

Adam couldn’t just leave now. “We both work for a mentoring program at Bates if you think some additional support for Johnny might help you while your husband isn’t here. We do things like go hiking, bowling, to the movies. It’s like a _Big Brothers, Big Sisters_ program.” Adam pulled out a pen from his jacket pocket and held out his hand, asking for Rhys’ card. When Liz gave it to him he scribbled his cell phone number and Professor Solis’ number on the back. “Professor Solis supervises us. This is her number, in case you would like a reference.” He then bent down so that he was eye level with the boy, “Do you like bowling, Johnny? Or playing sports? Bates has some great places to play.” The boy nodded, a slight smile on his face. 

Adam stood back up and handed Liz back the card. She looked it over, seeming to try to assess their motivations. “I’ll think about it,” she agreed. 

“Call any time,” Adam wished he could figure out what he could say to get her to let them help. 

“Thank you again,” Rhys said as he opened the door and held out his arm for Adam to step through. Against his better judgment, Adam complied and left the boy behind.

When they got in the car, Adam could feel himself boiling over. He slammed his fist against the dash. The sharp stinging of his hand felt better than the anger and helplessness he was feeling a few moments ago. 

Rhys was staring at him. “Really, Adam. Was that necessary?”

Adam knew it wasn’t, but he never thought before he did such things. It was the only way he knew how to release the worst of himself, even now. 

“May I?” Rhys asked, holding out his hand. Adam looked at the offering for a moment, before he nodded. When Rhys touched him, his entire body relaxed. It was a calm that Adam rarely felt, as if he had been instantly chemically altered. He took a deep breath and sat back in the seat. 

“I think that boy has been abused,” Adam admitted. 

“I think that boy has magic,” Rhys returned.

***********


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter with the plot!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay in this chapter. I had more holiday obligations than I realized and it got away from me. The good news is that we are moving toward the conclusion, although there are still a number of chapters left. Once I have an idea of how many are left, I promise to share. It is still in rough outline form. I'm going to strive to keep to the once a week posting, but realistically, it might end up being every other week. Stay tuned! I appreciate each and every one of you that have stuck with me. Also, I can't thank my beta pals enough. They deserve my praise on every chapter.

Adam considered the possibilities. The line here somehow had been creating magical objects _and_ little Johnny just happened to also have magic abilities _or_ the unusual things that the people of Livermore Falls had been seeing was being caused by the boy. Occam’s razor would suggest the latter, but Adam thought he should find proof. He was trying his best to keep his judgment from being clouded by what he had seen and not completely focus on the boy from the trailer. It was practically impossible.

Adam and Rhys visited the school, the grocery store and the two gas stations that Liz Caron mentioned. The school was not in session and neither of them could come up with a reasonable explanation for two young men to be snooping around at a grade school so they moved on pretty quickly. The grocery store and the gas stations weren’t any more fruitful. The people they met there were edgy and suspicious of outsiders asking questions. 

Tired, hungry and running out of ideas, Adam and Rhys stumbled upon what appeared to be the only restaurant in town and decided to have lunch. There were three people seated at the counter of the dinner and about a half a dozen others in booths around the restaurant. The entire room looked them over as they walked in and took a seat at the nearest table.

Adam felt his phone buzz and laid it out on the table. Gansey’s name flashed across the screen. “Do you mind?” Adam asked. Rhys nodded as he flicked a sugar packet he was about to pour into his coffee.

Adam walked out into the diner’s entryway to keep from disturbing the others in the restaurant. “Hey Gansey, what’s up?” Adam was always happy to hear from him.

“Adam?” Gansey’s voice was strained. “Is Ronan with you?” _What did Ronan do now?_

“No, I’m on a scouting mission with Rhys. Why?”

“I’ve tried to reach him a few times and of course he isn’t answering. I’m probably overreacting but I learned something from the text, something important for you and Ronan to know.” He sounded more relaxed now, as if the sheer act of telling Adam would erase the urgency in the situation.

“Ok, so, what did you find out?” Adam asked.

“It took me a while to realize, but the author of this book was Iolo Goch. And he revealed during one of his entries that he was also a Greywaren.”

“Glendower’s poet,” Adam recalled and shifted as a couple with a young child squeezed by him to go into the diner. “It makes sense that Iolo would be gathering history for Glendower and be the one to continue to tell Glendower’s hero story. 

“Exactly. At the end of the book, Iolo talks about Glendower being killed and his life being at risk. He says the Order of the Ravens wanted to sacrifice him to wake the line because if they they did, the person who made the sacrifice would gain his power.” 

Adam digested this information as quickly as he could. “The power of a Greywaren would definitely be a perk, but what is that compared to controlling all magic? Isn’t that what the Order was trying to do?” 

He heard rustling sounds and muffled voices in the background. “He wrote that they needed the power of the Greywaren to control all magic,” Gansey said. “There wasn’t any further explanation. I’m not sure Iolo even knew why they needed the Greywaren, he was just running scared. He called for other Knights of Caledfwlch to come fight the Order and left this book hoping they would find it and pick up where they had left off.” He paused. “Adam, if the Order of the Ravens is out there, then Ronan could be in danger. He needs to be careful. Can you tell him? And make sure he actually listens for once?”

“Of course, Gansey. I’ll get back and tell him right away.” Maybe it was much ado about nothing, but he still felt an urgent and immediate need to have Ronan where he could see him. People had killed for the Greywaren before; they would surely be willing to kill again.

“And Adam,” Gansey continued, “there’s instructions on how to find Excalibur in the book. I’ve formed a plan, but we need you and Ronan to assist. We’re here for a few more days and then we’ll be coming to you. We have some things we want to do to try to wake the line here; nothing has worked so far. But if you need us to come earlier, we can store Blue’s car and get on a plane.”

“No, I think it’s fine, Gansey. We’ll be okay. We’ll see you in a week or so.”

“Okay, take care, Adam. I can’t explain how I know, but something big is happening right now.”

“I will. You guys be safe.” Adam couldn’t explain it either, but he knew Gansey was right. 

***********

Ronan and Opal stayed at the coffee house until they finished their game, at which point in time he insisted that they get the hell out of there. Ronan needed to do something to shake this. He needed to dream.

As he and Opal stepped out of the door, they came upon Stace. Her expression looked even more venomous than usual. “Hey, is Anne here?” she asked.

“She got pissed at me and left,” Ronan said, shifting his feet from the cold. 

“Shit,” Stace breathed. “When she left our room she said she was coming here and I stupidly hoped she’d still be with you.”

“What’s the big fucking deal?” Ronan asked. “Cut that out,” he shot at Opal who was now digging in the snow.

“She sent me a text message about fifteen minutes ago, but she won’t answer her phone. She said she’s going to get Lily.” 

***********

Adam knew it was a futile effort to keep trying to call Ronan, but he figured if Ronan refused to answer his phone, the least he deserved was frequent agitation from his phone buzzing. Despite his constant complaints about his phone, Ronan rarely, if ever, turned it off. 

On the fifth try, Adam almost dropped his phone when heard Ronan’s voice say, “Parrish.”

“Ronan.” Adam felt instant relief at the sound of his voice. “Nice of you to pick up the god damned phone.” 

Without acknowledgement of Adam’s snide remark or even the fact that it was Adam who called him, Ronan asked, “Are you still in the fucking woods?”

“We’re on our way back,” Adam answered. “Listen, I have something important to tell you.”

“I need you to go to Lilyhaven.” Ronan’s voice sounded strange. “Anne’s gone there and we think she might do something she’ll regret.” It was worry in his voice. “Meet us there as soon as you can.”

“Okay, Ronan, but-” Adam began, but before he could get his thought out, the line went silent. “Bastard,” Adam muttered to himself. 

“Something’s wrong with Anne,” Adam told Rhys.

He frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Ronan was unsuccessful in convincing her about Lily.” Adam shoved his phone in his pocket.

“Big surprise there.” Sarcasm sounded strange coming from Rhys. It was refreshing, making Adam like him even more. 

“And she texted Stace that she was going to get Lily at Lilyhaven.” Adam suddenly lurched forward as Rhys slammed on the brakes. He pulled the car to the side of the road and took out his phone. Adam adjusted his seat belt and moved it away from where it had chafed his neck. 

“Anne,” Rhys said. “Where are you? I’m worried. Call me back.” The tension in his voice matched Ronan’s. “Damn it,” he said, and he threw his phone into the cup holder in the console. Rhys put the car in drive and sped off down the road. Adam didn’t need to ask. They were going to the vortex. 

***********

Adam and Rhys happened to only be a ten minute drive from Professor Solis’ house. When they parked the car, Rhys got out and immediately started running in the direction of the woods. Adam hadn’t been prepared to run, but he shoved on his hat and gloves and tried his best to keep pace with Rhys. The snow on the ground crunched under his boots and he struggled to keep his balance. Once past the treeline, the snow was so deep it was impossible to run without tripping and falling. Both boys were resigned to trudge as quickly as they could until the came upon the cave. 

“Anne!” Rhys called at the entrance, gasping between calls. “Anne!” The only answer was eerie silence. 

Adam was bent over with his hands on his knees a few feet from the cave opening. He was in decent shape, but the cold of the air made it difficult to breathe once you were winded. He walked toward Rhys and a woosh of warm air burst forth at them. It was a strange but not unexpected occurrence in Lily’s dreamscape. 

“Caw!” A sharp noise broke the winter calm. “Caw! Caw!” Adam looked up, expecting to see one or two stubborn birds who had yet to fly south for the winter. Instead he saw hundreds, perched on the branches of the tree just beyond the cave. It was an ominous group that reminded Adam of the birds Gansey described that led him to Glendower. The group, all feathers and beaks, seemed to have no real purpose other than to intimidate anyone considering entering the cave.

“Let’s go,” Rhys said as he took off into the cave. 

“Hold on,” Adam pulled at his arm and turned Rhys to face him. His expression was worn with worry, his hazel eyes uncertain. Rhys looked as if he could be ill at any moment. “We have to be smart about this.” Adam’s vision of the vortex flashed again in his mind. Anne crying. Rhys on the attack. “This place is unpredictable at best.” 

“I just need to find her, Adam.” Desperation. Fear. Adam understood those feelings. The lack of control. The need to do _something_. He nodded and they moved forward together, this time with a bit more caution.

The warm breeze continued to flow through the cave as they walked. Adam was now sweating so he took off his gloves and hat and stuffed them in his pocket. The change in temperature was accompanied by a change in line energy. Adam could feel it, bubbling below the surface. It wasn’t as if someone was dreaming and docking the line; it was as if someone was filling it. 

As they approached the entrance to the cavern, Adam heard a familiar voice. “Parate regis corvi.”

Two lumps—people, he realized—were hunched over on the ground a few hundred feet in front of the gorge, a circle of candles surrounding them. The ceiling was now filled with holes; and light shone down scattering across the ground. Adam’s stomach lurched. 

“Rex corvus!” Shane yelled as he raised his upper body, arm stretched to the sky, still kneeling. Even in the varied light, Adam could see his eyes had gone white from a trance. “Parate regis corvi.”

“Stop!” Rhys screamed, his voice echoing throughout the cavern. 

Shane’s eyes refocused, a sly smile spread across his face. “I wondered when you’d get here.”

“What the hell, Shane. You knew we were worried about Anne doing this.” Rhys said as he stepped toward them. Adam saw Rhys pause. Anne wasn’t bowing, she was limp, her arms behind her back. Adam moved himself on the other side of the two of them, creating a triangle between himself, Rhys and Shane.

Faster than Adam could track, Shane had his arms around Anne, a glint of light reflecting near her throat. A knife. “Uh uh, stop right there,” Shane warned. Anne groaned at the movement. Adam let out a breath at the realization she was still alive. 

Adam and Rhys looked at one another, a silent acknowledgement that they both now understood what was happening here. Shane was intent on sacrificing Anne to wake the line. 

“Shane, don’t do this, Anne’s your friend.” Anne was too far away. If either of them they made a move, she'd be dead before they got there. 

“Ha,” he scoffed. “There are no friends in war. Don’t you see that, Adam? It’s time to pick a side.”

Rhys started slowly moving toward Shane and Anne again. “Are you an idiot?” Shane asked, turning their bodies to face Rhys, pressing the tip of the knife to Anne’s neck. A small trickle of blood ran down it, but otherwise Anne still did not move.

“Shane, I can help you,” Rhys pleaded.

“You keep those fucking hands to yourself,” Shane warned. “I know what you do with them. I’m not going to let you turn me into a drooling, submissive fool.”

The only option Adam could see was to keep Shane talking. “What side, aren’t we both on the same side, Shane?”

“Depends,” he said, shifting Anne’s body as her head lolled backwards. “Do you believe in the ridiculous magical utopia that Rhys goes on about? That Professor Solis is trying to achieve? Do you think others would really accept us and our true power?” 

“I think we won’t know until we try,” Adam said, though he didn’t really believe it as the words came out of his mouth. He had seen the worst of people. He knew they feared what they didn’t understand. But even if he didn’t believe in a magical utopia, he also didn’t believe in a preemptive war.

“You’re a liar.” Shane spat. “I saw what you did to Barrington Whelk. When we were reading the Red book, I went into your mind too. Oh, I know Stace read you. I pretended to not be able to. It was easy because you all always underestimate me.” Rhys was shifting his weight from foot to foot, clenching his fists, arms rigid at the side of his body. Adam knew he could blow at any moment. “You made a choice. You killed a man. You did what had to be done. That’s all I’m doing here.” Rhys face changed as he glanced over at Adam. Shane laughed. “You didn’t know your precious Adam was a killer? Of course not, your reading abilities were always subpar. Even with Stace’s and my help, you could never really see anything on your own.”

“It’s not like that,” Adam tried to explain. He remembered that look. It was the same one Gansey had given him after Whelk died. Like he was another that could not be saved. “And besides, I’m not the same now. If you saw everything Shane, you’d know that.” 

“Anne is an innocent, Shane. You can’t come back from hurting her.” Adam could hear the desperation in his own voice, despite the fact he was trying as hard as he could to stay calm. 

“Shane,” Rhys’ voice was steel. “If you do anything else to hurt her, I will kill you.”

“Oh, please, Rhys. You could never do anything distasteful. That’s why you had me. Any time your mother needed anything that didn’t meet your ethical standards, you couldn’t wait to pass it on to me. You’ve always acted like your family didn’t participate in the less savory part of the business, but we both know that’s a lie.”

“Come on, Shane,” Adam tried again, “What happens next? You think you can do this all on your own? Waking the entire world’s magic takes five people, you said so yourself.”

“I’m not alone. I’ve aligned myself with the winning side. The question is, will you? You have no idea what you are facing, Adam. The Order of the Ravens will be the salvation for all those with magic. And once I'm a Greywaren and control the power of the line, I'll be integral to their plan. No more pretending that college matters, no more pretending like we are boring and average, no more hiding. We will bend the entire world to our will. It will be beautiful.”

Shane tilted his head, as if hearing something off in the distance. “Finally. The others will be with us shortly. We must begin.” He stood and raised Anne to her feet. “Rex corvus,” he began as he took the knife and slowly dragged it across her wrists, droping blood as he turned her in a circle. “Parate regis corvi.”

“No!” Rhys screamed as he took off toward them. In an instant, the birds who had been guarding the cave burst forth through the holes in the ceilings. Wings flashed before Adam’s eyes like a black winter storm. Rhys was on the ground, being pelted by the birds. Adam tried to shield his face from the chaos as he moved toward Shane, scratches from beaks and claws all over his arms. Anne’s head shot up quickly as she pulled herself from Shane’s grasp, kneeing him in the groin and knocking the knife out of his hand and across the dirt floor. Shane groaned and crumbled to the ground as Anne ran toward Rhys. 

Adam reached into his pocket, remembering the small trinket Ronan had given him all those months ago. He'd kept it with him ever since. The small silver whistle made no sound as he blew it, but in an instant, the birds stilled, hovering in the air above them. 

Anne was on the ground, cradling Rhys' hand in hers, a piece of rope hanging from one of her wrists, blood streaming from the other. 

Shane slowly pulled himself to his feet. Adam took the opening to jump after the knife, but he was too late—Shane had seen him moving and grabbed it before Adam could reach it. “Back off,” he said, swiping at Adam, who reflexively jumped backward at the motion. Adam focused on the knife, hoping to use his powers to take it from Shane, but the line felt just out of reach. _Where are you Cabeswater?_

Shane turned his attention back to Anne and Rhys, who appeared to have regained his bearings. He was kneeling now, wrapping his torn off shirt sleeve around Anne’s wrist. Shane walked toward them like a predator stalking his prey. Rhys moved so his body was a wall between Shane and Anne. 

“Don’t!” Anne yelled as Rhys launched himself toward Shane.

“Adam!” He heard Ronan and Stace yell across the cavern. 

Then Adam was on the ground and everything went black. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when he opened his eyes there was a rather large rock lying next to him and the silver whistle a few feet beyond his grasp. His head rung with pain. A thick, dark substance trickled into his eyes. 

Then he felt it, the familiar feeling of Cabeswater’s branches furling their way around him, covering him like a cocoon. The ground smelled of must and mulch and peace. He breathed it in, pulling the line energy into him, and held his hand out to the whistle. 

Shane and Rhys were wrestling on the ground. Blood covered both of their faces. Shane managed to gain the upper hand and held Rhys’ head over the ravine, knife at his throat. “It’s over. The line is mine,” he said as he ran the blade over Rhys’ neck. 

Adam called the whistle to his hand. He held it to his lips and called the birds. _Protect Rhys and Anne._ They moved from their hovering in the air to a direct projectile toward Shane. In an instant, he and the entire flock were over the side of the gorge. 

“Shane!” Adam yelled as he stumbled toward the edge of the ravine. Before he could get there the cave began to shake. Light blasted from the bottom of the gorge, knocking Adam off his feet, filling the cavern and shooting through the ceiling, causing rocks to tumble and crumble. Adam didn’t even have a moment to process what had just happened. He looked across the ravine through the gigantic ribbon of light to see Stace and Ronan standing stupefied on the other side. “Go!” he yelled. This cavern was going to collapse.

“Adam!” Anne yelled, her hands to Rhys throat. Adam rushed over and again opened his mind to the line. He could feel it, all of it. Cabeswater and Lilyhaven were now connected. He looked down. “Heal them. Favor me,” he said. Branches sprouted out of the dirt and wrapped themselves around his neck, then around Anne’s wrist where Rhys’ shirt sleeve was tied. The ground shook harder.

“It’s time to go,” Adam said, as he pulled them both to their feet. The branches fell from their bodies only leaving perfect skin where they had attached themselves. Then Adam led them all out of the cave and into the new world that awaited them. 

***********

Gansey checked the coordinates again on his phone GPS. He and Blue and Henry were hiking toward the bottom of the canyon to check on the spot where they had found the ceremony candles one last time. Gansey was certain this was where the line vortex was located. They had tried practically everything to wake the line. Well, everything short of actually killing someone, which would never be an option. 

Iolo’s stories had talked about a few different possible sacrifices to wake the line. Gansey had offered his will and his command, which the line apparently did not want. He had also offered his wealth, but since he'd often wondered what it would be like not to have money, he wasn't terribly surprised this hadn't worked. Could it truly be a sacrifice if he had flights of fancy that desired its occurrence? Likely not. Henry had offered RoboBee, which would have been a true sacrifice for him, but apparently not enough to satisfy the line. Blue offered her mirror magic, but again, Gansey could see the complicated nature of her feelings about her powers getting in the way of it being a true sacrifice. No, it seems this line did not want to wake for them. And yet, it was the right time. Of this, he was sure.

A skittering of rocks started to slide down the sides of the jutting rocks as they made their descent. This was not an unusual occurrence when they walked on the unstable paths, but the one or two small falling rocks quickly turned into twenty or thirty larger boulders. 

Gansey grabbed a hold of Blue’s shirt just in time to pull her out of the path of a rock that was three feet in diameter. Henry tripped over his feet to push them all under a jutting rock ledge, giving them all temporary shelter from the sand storm. 

“Thanks, Henry,” Blue gasped. “What the hell is happening out there?”

Gansey tried to angle himself so that he could see the source of the rock slide, but the dust and dirt made it impossible. Instead of subsiding the vibration under his feet intensified. He grabbed onto the underside of the ledge to steady himself. He then pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and covered his mouth. Henry and Blue followed suit and pulled out pieces of clothing to protect their faces and lungs from the debris-filled air.

“This is not a normal rock slide,” Henry yelled as the noise intensified.

“No,” Gansey coughed. “Something strange is afoot.”

The avalanche of dirt and rocks continued for about five minutes before the dust started to settle. When all was quiet, Gansey carefully left the protected area to scout the ceremony location, with Blue and Henry following close behind. He held his fingers to his lips, an indication that he suspected even the slightest noise could start another rock slide. As he came upon the spot, he waved his arms trying to clear his vision. Through a dusty fog he saw what looked like a pile of steaks on the ground. His brain glitched for a moment at the realization that it was mislabeling what he saw. _No._ Not meat. Flesh. Bone. Sinew. Blood. Mallory’s once fascinating cautionary tale come to life. Gansey doubled over and retched.

Trees sprouted around the body. _Body._ Curling, furling, sprouting, green covering the ground, swallowing the gore whole. An entire forest grew around them. The line was awake.

***********


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam deals with the aftermath of what happened in Lilyhaven. Blue, Gansey and Henry show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting there! Still working on plotting out the rest, but the story is definitely moving forward!

Adam was lying on his back in bed, staring at the ceiling. He'd been staring so long, he had memorized every crack and imperfection in the sea of white. Every varying trail. Even when he closed his eyes, he saw the paths. One straight line, one divergent. No way to get back to the initial path once you had veered off. 

It had been two days since the line woke up. Two days since Shane had died. Two days since Adam had killed him. Adam had not thought much about Whelk’s death. Whelk had killed his friend. He was trying to kill them too. It was justice that he lost his life. But this was different. Adam didn’t kill Whelk, but he didn’t save him. Adam’s actions led to Shane’s death. The difference might seem like semantics to some, but facing it, it was significant to Adam. 

He didn’t intend for Shane to die, but clearly, intention didn’t matter in this instance. _But wasn’t intention all that mattered in dreamscapes?_ The line held Adam responsible. Isn’t that why he was able to heal Anne and Rhys? Did he even know his own mind?

Shane had been his friend. Well, not really. That was a fact Adam had to accept. He had thought he understood Shane. His drive, his thoughtfulness. But Shane now appeared to be Adam’s cautionary tale. Shane’s fate was what happens when you let power and fear rule you. 

But Shane may have been able to be saved, to be brought back to them. Adam should have been able to stop him in some other way, to help him. 

Adam groaned, rolled over and shoved his pillow over his head. The line now pulsed through him like a heartbeat. Boom, boom, boom. When it was surging, when it was peaking, Adam got splitting migraines. It felt like a punishment, one he deserved. 

A familiar flutter of paper rustled in his good ear. Adam peaked out from under the pillow to the side of the bed where a copy of the local paper had landed. 

“Google alerts is going fucking insane. There are thousands of hits in the news referencing ‘magical sightings’ and ‘unexplained phenomena.’ Thought it would be easier on you to read this relic.” Adam’s senses had become heightened since the line waking and backlighting hurt his eyes like hell. “Thanks, but I think I probably need to take a look at what’s happening from a wider perspective,” he said, rolling over and sitting up.

“Here’s the summary: things are fucked. The end.” Ronan sat down on the bed and hooked his hand on Adam’s thigh. That was one sensation where Adam enjoyed the greater intensity. It was like he could feel every point of contact between them. He wanted to feel it everywhere, not just on his leg, but that would take away his focus from the task at hand. It wasn’t a time to be distracted. It wasn’t a time to be...happy.

“Wonderful,” Adam quipped. “Problem solved. We can all go back to bed.” Ronan’s eyes were focused, watching him. “I’m fine, really,” Adam said, answering his unspoken question.

“Don’t be a dick.” Ronan shook his head. The wrinkle above his eyes that grew proportionally to his concern had now spread the width of his forehead. More than anything, Adam wanted to be able to wipe it away. “I know you don’t want to hear this. You want to wallow in your fucking misery, but you did what you had to do.”

“I know,” Adam said, looking down at his hands. They looked strange, alien. 

“The hell you do,” Ronan reached out and picked Adam’s head up by his chin. He looked Adam straight in the eyes, his own deep blue and penetrating. “I would have done the same thing.”

Adam wanted to say _you weren’t close enough to see_ or y _ou don’t know what you would have done_ but arguing with Ronan Lynch was never productive. Instead, Adam leaned forward and kissed him. Adam might not deserve this, but Ronan did. Even so, he could only allow himself to get lost in Ronan for a moment. As Adam parted his lips before pulling away, he sighed. Even breathing deeply this close to Ronan felt amazing. 

Ronan sat there for a moment, eyes closed and lips pursed as if he was setting his mind to something. Then he opened them and said, “Gansey called while you were asleep. He said he's in New Hampshire. They should be here soon.” 

“Stace is here too,” Adam could see her coming to the door. His psychic sense was almost constant now that the line was awake all around them.

Ronan stood up. “You creepy fuck. You best be staying out of my head.”

“I try my best,” Adam shrugged. “It’s full of depravity and debauchery.” 

Ronan leaned into Adam’s good ear. “How about instead I show you when you’re up for it.” He flashed Adam his sexiest grin. 

Adam wished that time was now. “I’m holding you to that,” he said as he cupped the side of Ronan’s face with his hand. Ronan responded with a quick playful kiss on the side of Adam’s face before he left the room. 

As Ronan walked down the hall, Adam stretched his open hand toward the newspaper lying on the bed. The paper shook a bit before it shot up and hit him in the face. He growled as he laid it in his lap.

It had been an accident that Adam realized he could now move things with his mind outside of the dreamscapes. On the way back into the house, after the insanity in the woods, Opal tripped outside the car and Adam stopped her from falling. To Ronan’s credit, he wasn’t nearly as freaked out about it as Adam was. And Opal was completely unphased. But much like in Cabeswater, it was a muscle that Adam didn’t even realize he had. It happened more easily when he wasn't thinking, when his mind was clear, which was almost never in the last few days. It was probably why he couldn’t do it in Lilyhaven until he had been knocked unconscious. All the internal and external noise was like disrupting radio signals. Too many things on the same frequency. Adam needed to clear it all out. It was the only way he would keep his sanity now.

Adam paused when he looked at the date on the paper. Sunday. Was it really Sunday? The events of previous week made keeping track of anything, even simple dates, feel impossible. Shit. Adam suddenly remembered the assignment he had due the next day. The book he needed for a reference in the last few pages of his paper was in his dorm room. He’d have to go get it and somehow finish it and the rest of his work, but that could all wait at least a few hours. 

He opened the newspaper and spread it out. It definitely had some peculiar headlines. _One hundred deer dead after freak lightning storm_. _Dozens aghast at UFO sighting in Turner_. _Woman wins three powerball jackpots in a row._ _Federal agents exploring possible contaminants in multiple cities’ water supplies - terrorism suspected._

None of these were surprising to Adam. In fact, Professor Solis had already warned them that Federal Agents were crawling around Lilyhaven. She said every resident was being questioned. Adam was certain that they would all be lab rats if the wrong person discovered what they could do. He bet Glendower never anticipated having to deal with the Department of Homeland Security as part of his expedition to wake all magic. 

A slight rap on the door made Adam look up. Stace stood there, arms wrapped around her body, looking small. Her face was blank, like all color and emotion had been forcefully removed. Stace was usually a live wire. The person who stood before him was muted and lifeless. “Can I come in?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course.” Adam shifted himself over a bit to let her sit on the side of the bed. Her hands were bare. Adam had never seen them without gloves before. The cuticles and some of the skin on her fingers were red and cracked. She had been digging at herself. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“The last couple of days have been a clusterfuck. And not just because of Shane. I mean, I’m so fucking pissed that I didn’t read him. I don’t understand how I didn’t get anything. The fucking line makes things so screwed up. He was supposed to be my friend and I trusted him like an idiot.” She raised her hand to the ball on her eyebrow piercing and started absent-mindedly playing with it, face blank and staring at a point beyond him. “But now, I’m reading everyone. It doesn’t matter if I touch people or not, they’re everywhere. But it's all jibberish. I can’t get a good read on anything because there is just so much…”

“Noise,” Adam offered. “Yeah, it’s happening to me too. It’s so hard to focus.”

“Can we try to meditate together? Stace asked. “I just need someone to help ground me.”

Adam nodded and shifted himself so he could cross his legs in front of him. Stace moved her body onto the bed so she was facing him. They both put their palms up and rested them on one another. “Quiet,” Stace mumbled as she breathed out. The knots of energy in Adam’s temple unfurled and shuffled off, like driftwood taken out to sea. He let out a sigh, grateful for the relief. 

“Can I?” Adam asked. He felt Stace say yes, although he knew it wasn’t with words. “The Order,” Adam said aloud. What happened next, Adam didn’t quite understand. He expected darkness and cloaks and caverns. Instead, he saw faces. Businesses, people, homes. Adam didn’t recognize any of it, but the point of the vision was clear. The Order was made up of people. People who had lives. People who were living among the rest of them. “I think we need an object to focus us more.”

As Adam got up from the bed to go retrieve the small silver raven, his mind slipped to the driveway. “Gansey.” He smiled. “Stace, my friends…”

“I know,” she said, the exhaustion clear on her face. “We can try this again later. Let’s go see them.”

***********

Blue’s first thought when she saw the house was that it was too modest to be the current residence of Ronan Lynch. She had only ever known Ronan to live in places that were large enough to contain him and his ego. This house was small, tiny even. But it was in the woods where it was quiet and it had a basketball hoop in the driveway, something she imagined Adam would like. Yes, that might be what it was. This place looked more like Adam than Ronan. Functional, simple and warm. 

“So this is the casa de Radam? Or Adnan?” Henry joked from the backseat.

Blue groaned. “I hate cutesy smoosh names.”

“Of course you would. Because you’d be _Glue_ ,” Henry’s smile covered his entire face.

“Shut it!” Blue waved him off.

“All right, all right,” Gansey broke through their bickering. Blue could feel her attention shift to him, the draw was only a slightly different feeling than she had always felt toward Gansey. A pull she couldn’t resist. He cringed when he noticed their immediate attention. “I didn’t mean to…”

 _It’s fine,_ Blue felt the thought come into her mind. Three days of driving in an enclosed space had given her a lot of practice at recognizing when Henry projected his thoughts. Even though they were in her mind, they now somehow sounded like him. It was a fascinating ability that often came in handy on the road.

Gansey nodded. He had become more laconic as he struggled with his power of command. The relief on his face when she told him her mirror magic allowed her to block out his and Henry’s powers had hurt Blue’s heart. 

Other times, when she wasn’t paying attention, she found that she accidentally made Gansey’s and Henry’s abilities louder to others. They all now had reasons to be more careful. 

Gansey had has hands tight on the steering wheel, staring at the small house. Worry looked beautiful on him. “Hey,” Blue said as she grabbed his hand. “They’re going to be ok with this.” His smile was sweet and sad. The weight of the world on his shoulders hadn't broken him, but it had taken its toll. His usual excitement in the face of adventure had been replaced with solemn resolve. Witnessing a death could do that to anyone.

Gansey pulled his backpack out of the backseat and threw it over his shoulder. As they walked toward the house, the door flung open and Opal came running out. Her hooves skittered and slid on the snow. 

“Whoa, hey,” Henry exclaimed, catching her just before she wiped out.

Blue wrapped her arm around Gansey’s waist, pulling him close as they walked. He looked over at her, eyes shining, leaned into her and whispered, “I love you.”

It wasn’t the first time he had said it. It wasn’t even the seventy-first time, but still, the words made her entire body tingle. The feeling was so immense, it filled her up and exploded out of her. She could feel herself grinning like an idiot, and somehow, despite the fact that she hated people who let love make them act like dopey fools, she didn’t care. 

“Blue! Gansey!” Opal yelled as she wrapped her arms around the both of them. Gansey reached down and swooped her up. “How are you, you little imp?” he asked. 

“We have a new house! We’re living with Adam again!” Opal had wrapped her arms around his neck and started wiggling her body side to side. She leaned in and put her forehead against his and then held her arm out to Blue to come closer. Once Blue had joined their close, intimate conversation, she said in a whisper, “Kerah is happy again.” That was one way in which Opal was exactly like other kids. She could immediately identify the truth and had not gained the filter that adults seemed to use too often to keep from saying it.

Henry had been standing beside them and laughed out loud at this. “Ronan? Happy? This I’ve got to see.”

“It looks a whole lot like Ronan not happy,” Gansey explained as they walked inside the side door. It led to a garage which was starkly empty except for the BMW and a few other odd looking items that Blue would bet money Ronan had dreamed. 

“Nice of you assholes to finally get here,” Ronan said as they got to the doorway of the house. “End of the world and all, you’d think you could finally not drive like a grandpa, Gansey.” He moved back and let the group of them inside.

“Oh Ronan,” Blue used her best grandma voice, “aren’t you just adorable?” She grabbed a hold of his cheek and pinched it. He batted her hand away and wrapped his arms around her neck to pull her in for a noogie.

“Sargent, you are such a fucking pest.”

“And you are a menace to society,” she countered.

“Nice digs,” Henry said as he moved inside. The small entryway led directly into the kitchen, which was taken up mostly by a table and chairs. But what the house lacked in size, it made up in character. Ronan had already populated the front of the house with various interesting dream objects. On the walls hung dreamt pieces of armour and beautiful artwork. The kitchen counters were covered with appliances, none of them with cords. Opals artwork covered the refrigerator. It was as though he had picked up the magic of the Barns and transplanted it here. And those roots had already begun to thrive. 

“Thanks, move your asses inside. It is fucking cold out there. This place might as well be the Antarctic.”

The rest of the front of the house was a living room space. Sitting on the couch was a young woman with purple-streaked hair and a cool looking eyebrow piercing. She was wearing a Ramones t-shirt and striped leggings And her shoes were a striking electric blue—things Blue herself would pick, if she had all the money she wanted to spend. The girl sat quietly with her hands in her lap, watching the brood in front of her. 

When Gansey saw her, he immediately offered his hand. “Hello. Richard Gansey, nice to meet you.”

“I…” she held up her hand hesitantly. “I’m Stace. I don’t know if you want me to shake your hand. Just being near me is complicated.”

“Ah yes,” Gansey said. “Adam mentioned you. Don’t worry, you’re among friends here.” He kept his hand extended. It was a meaningful gesture. They all knew Stace read people with touch. Gansey was saying they accepted her. 

She took his hand and smiled as they shook. “And this is Jane.” Blue also offered her hand. When Stace took it, she looked confused. 

“Hi,” she said. “It’s Blue actually. Oh yeah, sorry. I can block pretty much any power, it seems. I’m not trying to be rude. Sometimes it just happens.”

“Oh,” she said sounding surprised. “No, that’s ok. It’s actually kind of nice.” Stace then let out a wry laugh. “You’re funny, Henry.” Henry was standing across the room, a crooked smile on his face.

“Really?” Blue, Gansey and Ronan asked almost in unison.

“Hey!” Henry said defensively. “Wait, did you just _think_ back at me?”

“Yeah.” Stace nodded. “I guess I did.”

“Neat,” Henry said, looking almost flushed. Until now, his ability had seemed like a one-way communication line. But apparently, if the receiver had the right ability, the message could be broadcast back. They all had so much to learn about this new world they were living in. 

“Hey, what’s all the ruckus?” Adam asked as he joined them from down the hall. Blue noted that he also had a weighted look about him. Adam was typically neat in his appearance, but his hair and shirt looked crumpled and disheveled, as though he had slept in his clothes and just woken up. It was three in the afternoon.

“Adam,” Gansey greeted him with a high five and an embrace. 

Blue joined in and quickly realized Henry had wrapped his arms around the three of them. “You all are disgusting,” Ronan spat as Opal joined the pile on by wiggling her way through their legs into the middle of the pack. 

“Okay, guys. Can’t. Breathe.” Adam feigned gasps. 

“Wow, Henry,” Adam’s attention focused. “I missed you too. That’s seriously impressive.”

“Thanks,” Henry had always been a positive person, but since the lines awoke, he seemed so much more comfortable. 

“So, I can expect you to start ordering me around again then?” Adam directed his question to Gansey, whose face fell. It wasn’t something he could joke about yet. Adam seemed to read his hesitation because he quickly added, “Never really worked then, I doubt it would work now.”

“And what about you?” he said to Blue. “Are you the one making all this crazy stuff happen?” 

“Not me,” she said. “You can blame your precious line for this one. My newest trick has been to cut myself off from it all. And I’ll be able to do it for the rest of you, with some more practice.” 

“That’s great,” Ronan interjected. He had been watching the reunion while leaning against the archway to the living room. “If we piss Sargent off she’ll cut us all off from the line.”

“That’s right, Lynch. Don’t test me,” she said, wagging her finger at him. 

He raised his middle finger to his lips and blew a kiss at her with it. 

“Charming as always.” Blue bowed her head at him. 

“Do you really think you could block our abilities?” Stace asked, her eyes were intently waiting for an answer. “I wouldn’t mind that so much.”

“I did it in Cabeswater. And our powers seem to be as strong, if not stronger now. I think I can do it.” Blue felt determined to test her abilities to the limits. She was already amazed at what she was able to do. She couldn’t wait to see what else she could learn. 

“Good,” Stace nodded. 

“It also might come in handy as we try to find Caledfwlch,” Gansey said as he took his bag off his shoulder and opened it. “I think we’d better talk about what I found in the Red book.” 

The group of them all settled into the living room, taking up what felt like all the available space. Henry, Gansey and Blue sat on the couch. Opal squeezed in between Blue and Gansey to better see the photographs he was flipping through. When Adam sat in the only empty chair, Ronan sat down at his feet on the floor, leaning up against him. 

“There is so much in this text,” Gansey started, skimming through the pages. Each one had at least one bright colored sticky note with notes scrawled on it. “The part about the Greywaren is still pretty vague, but there is another passage that might explain it a bit more.”

“Ah, here it is,” he said as he stopped on a page with about ten neon colored pieces of paper attached. Gansey translated slowly, pausing to look at the notes. 

_Marred predicted that the Raven King will wake all the lines of the world with the help of the Greywaren and the Magicians._

_At the right time, Iolo will open the door to Caledfwlch and then lead them to the center of the world’s line._

_The Magician must call the power of the line to the world’s center._

_The Raven King must wake the world with Excalibur covered in his blood; then he will control all magic._

_The Knights of Caledfwlch must protect all magic._

“So those strange doors we found in both Lilyhaven and Cabeswater are likely the doors this is referencing,” Adam said, leaning back in the chair.

“Yes,” Gansey nodded. “Once the forest grew in the canyon, another archway and door appeared there as well. It seems to be some sort of passage system that Iolo built, which is only revealed when connecting lines are awake. But they’re still locked. The door we found wouldn’t open for us.”

“Ronan was able to go into the one in Cabeswater. And he found that door with a sword on it, so it's safe to assume that is how we’ll get to Excalibur,” Adam said.

“Except I could only open that fucking door in my dream and I couldn’t open the one with the sword at all,” Ronan reminded them. 

“Maybe it's time to try again?” Blue suggested. It seemed like as good a suggestion as any. 

“I think we should do some more readings first,” Stace said hesitantly. “We have the raven and we could try the book again now that our powers are more intensified.”

“All sound like good suggestions,” Gansey agreed.

“That’s all fine,” Adam let his arms drop around Ronan, resting his hands on his shoulders. “But I have to go to Bates to get some books from my room and then do some work for tomorrow first.” 

“I don’t think this can wait.” Stace was washed out. Blue wondered if she was typically that pale. “Can’t you ask for an extension?”

Ronan grabbed a hold of Adam’s wrists and wrapped them casually around his neck. “How about I go get your shit for you and the rest of you stay here and try to do your reading.” 

Adam leaned his head down to talk to Ronan. “I don’t like the idea of you going anywhere alone right now. It’s not smart.”

“I’ll go with him,” Blue offered. “I can manage blocking magic for the two of us. We should be fine.”

“Awww, my hero,” Ronan sneered. 

“Fine,” Blue sighed. “Get yourself killed. See if I care.”

“No, Adam’s right,” Gansey had now closed the makeshift photo book. “No one should be wandering about anywhere alone right now. Just stop being a pain, Ronan.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Ronan saluted him.

“I”m not…” Gansey began.

“Jesus, Ronan. Can you cut it out for two seconds?” Adam was now holding his head with his hands. “You are making everyone crazy.” Blue hated seeing Adam so distressed. She got up and put her hand on his shoulder. It was easier to block magic from Adam if she could touch him. She could feel it all outside of them, buzzing, pushing, trying to get in. No wonder Adam was looking so strained. “Thanks, Blue. That’s really helpful.” Adam said, finally looking relaxed.

Ronan got up on his knees in front of Adam, worry spreading across his face. “Are you sure you don’t want her to stay here and keep doing that?” His voice was quiet, a tone he saved for those he was inclined to protect. 

Adam shook his head. “We’ll need to be open to magic, not blocking it. And I think together, we’ll all be powerful enough to get a new reading on the raven.” He looked over at Stace who gave a nod. “But if it doesn’t work, we can try again when you get back, Blue.”

“Sure,” she said, rubbing his shoulder. 

“Rhys and Anne are on their way here,” Stace said, her phone now in her hands. 

“Good. Rhys can help too. Here,” Adam said as he scribbled something on a paper and handed it to Ronan. “These are the books I need.”

Gansey stood up to walk them out. “Be safe,” he said to Blue, kissing her on the cheek.

“Safe as life,” she responded. Ronan and Adam snickered at her reference. “What’s a little danger amongst friends?” she asked, then kissed him back. The one thing they had all learned through their various adventures was that they couldn’t, wouldn’t live in fear. 

***********

Ronan drove the BMW up to the top of the hill where Cheney House sat. He put the car in park and sighed. “Listen, I’m just going to run in and get the books and we can get you back to Adam as soon as possible.” 

“But-” Blue started to protest. “I promised Adam I’d keep you safe.”

“Look, this is technically the President’s driveway and the rent-a-cops here will have the BMW towed if someone isn’t in it. The only other option is to waste a half an hour trying to find parking. Come on, Sargent. All I'm doing is going inside for about ten minutes. Can we please not waste time fighting about this?”

“Fine,” Blue crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him. He knew she meant well, but all he could think of was how Adam was spiraling into the darkness. Ronan was going to do whatever it took to keep him afloat. 

When he got to the front door of the house, he took out Adam’s ID and ran it over the card reader. It opened with a click. Adam’s room was on only a few doors down from the front entry way. At the door, Ronan decided he should at least knock in case Nick was there. After three raps and no answer, he put Adam’s key in the lock and opened it.

“Oh, hey.” Nick was practically standing in the doorway as Ronan opened the door.

“Adam needs some of his books. Do you mind?” Ronan hadn’t spent much time with Nick before. He hoped he wasn’t one for chit chat. 

“No, of course,” he said, holding his arm out to welcome Ronan into the room with one hand while rubbing his eye with the other. Ronan must have woken him up.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Ronan reluctantly apologized. He had promised Adam he would be nice to Nick.

“It’s fine,” Nick said, sitting down on the bed. “Just getting a power nap.”

Ronan went over to Adam’s desk and started rifling through the piles of books. He needed two books on Roman law and although at least three of these were on that topic, none of them were on Adam’s list. God, the nerd had so many damned books. 

He shifted his attention to the pile of books on the floor. But bending over must have made his blood rush to his head, because he immediately started feeling dizzy. Ronan staggered as he tried to stand up straight. He grabbed ahold of Adam’s bedpost to steady himself, but his arm gave way and he fell forward. And then there was nothing. 

***********


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Answers! Lots of answers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been sticking with me on this! We are getting so close to the end. Still not sure exactly how many chapters, but I am thinking three or four more!

Adam wasn’t sure if Anne and Rhys would be strange with him after what happened in the caves. He wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t want to see him again. He was honestly surprised they were coming over there at all. 

Opal opened the door when they arrived and jumped up on Anne in greeting. Adam joined them to welcome them inside. They both looked exhausted. Anne’s face, which was typically calm and serene, was tense and tight. 

“Look,” Adam began, unsure of what exactly to say. 

Before he could continue, Rhys hugged Adam. “Thank you,” he said. “For saving Anne and for saving me.” 

“Can I?” Anne asked, holding out her arms. Adam nodded, stunned at their reactions. She embraced him as well. “Thank you,” she echoed. Adam thought that he may have had more people hug him this day than in the entire rest of his life.

He felt his throat tighten. “I wish it didn’t have to be that way. I’m sorry about Shane.”

“We know,” Anne said, eyes looking a bit wet. “We wish it could be different too, but he didn’t give any of us a choice.”

“Hey.” Stace came over and held her hand out grabbing Anne’s arm. “How are you doing?”

“Okay,” she nodded. “Better.”

Gansey had stood to greet the newcomers, never one to skip the proper introductory protocol. He shook their hands and said it was a pleasure to meet them. Seeing Gansey and Rhys together, Adam was struck at how unfair it was to think of Rhys as another Gansey. It was as if they were two pieces of art, made from the same materials, but who’d become two unique works, the results of different artists’ techniques and talents. Their core substances were the same, but their experiences were different. It had been hard for Adam to see this at first for various reasons, not the least of which being that Adam was fearful that he could only ever be what he started out as. A poor boy could only have a poor character. A rich boy would always be rich with opportunities and support. Rhys had shown that painting people with that wide of a brush was false. A person was both their beginnings and how they were molded, even if they were doing the molding themselves.

“We’d like to try to read the raven again,” Stace said when they had all settled into the living room. 

“We’re hoping now that the line is awake, we can pull enough ley line energy to break through whatever protection is on it,” Adam said, sitting down and pulling the raven out of his pocket. It looked like such an innocuous item, flat and silver and shiny. 

“I’m not sure I can be much of a help,” Rhys said. “I think Shane was right. I don’t have much power in these things.” He grabbed a hold of Anne’s hand and held it close. “But I’m willing to try. I just want to warn you, I’ve accidentally impacted some of Anne’s feelings because I no longer need to touch someone to use my ability. I don’t know what it could end up doing during a reading.”

“That’s okay.” Gansey smiled. “We’re all learning about what we can do now. I apologize in advance if I accidentally order you to do something.”

“Fascinating!” Rhys said, clearly in awe of all the magical changes around them.

“I know, isn’t it?” Gansey agreed. “I’ve been cataloging all the changes in our abilities in my journal here. I’d be happy to show it to you. I also have notes on the Red book’s text.”

“I’d very much like that,” Rhys said. “The text sounds so incredibly interesting.”

Adam felt bad at interrupting their bonding, but he had promised Stace they would do the reading and he had so much work hanging over his head. “There will be plenty of time for that,” he said. “First things first.”

***********

It has already been ten minutes since Ronan had left. She took out her phone and texted _What’s taking so long?_ He was such a royal pain in the ass. After another five minutes without an answer, she groaned, shoving open the car door and hustling over to the building. The winter’s chill nipped at her nose. She had never been this far north of Henrietta. She couldn’t believe how cold it was.

Blue rang the doorbell, expecting Ronan would get her text come to let her in. After ringing it a few times, she started pounding on the door.

A few minutes later, a confused looking student opened it. “What’s all the noise about?” she asked. Her eyes were unusually close together, which gave her a rather pinched look. She frowned at Blue as if she had broken some unspoken rule.

“Sorry,” Blue said. “My friend Adam lives here and his boyfriend went to get something in his room. Can I come in and get him?”

The young woman eyed Blue suspiciously, but after a moment said, “Sure, I know Adam and Ronan.”

Blue wasn’t sure exactly how helpful this person wanted to be. “Could you tell me where Adam’s room is?”

She pointed down the hallway. “Room 3.”

Blue ran down the hallway and started to loudly knock on the door of room 3. She imagined Ronan laughing hysterically at her panic. She waited, anxiously shifting her feet. He must be neck deep in Adam’s books, that’s why he hadn’t come to the door. She knocked again, this time harder. Nothing. 

“Ronan, this isn’t funny!” she called. She looked down the hallway to see if anyone was around who could help, but the entire first floor appeared deserted. She let out a sigh and pulled two bobby pins from her hair. 

She stopped and tried to remember the steps Calla had taught her. “A young woman must be resourceful,” she would say as she showed Blue how to bend the bobby pins to make a pick and tension wrench. She took the first and pulled one of the plastic bulbs off with her teeth, then bent the end. She then shaped the second to a 90 degree angle. 

Blue cursed Ronan under her breath, imagining that he was inside giggling like a child hiding from his parents. She slid the makeshift tension wrench into the bottom of the lock, twisting it slightly and wiggling the pick around until she heard the clicks. She let out another breath as she turned the lock and swung the door in. “Ronan, I’m gonna kill you!” she called out as she barrelled through the door.

But it was an empty room, no sign of him anywhere. Ronan was gone.

***********

Since Stace’s power was the strongest, Adam suggested that she hold the raven. Adam and Rhys placed their hands on hers, both touching a piece of the trinket. “Gansey and Henry, come over here,” Adam instructed. 

“I don’t have any reading abilities, Adam,” Henry protested. 

“Neither do I,” Gansey agreed. 

“You could be wrong about that,” Adam explained. “We all use the line power for our abilities. We all chanel it in some way. Even if that energy doesn’t produce visions for you, I think you can bring more power to our reading.”

Henry shrugged. Gansey nodded. They both joined them. 

When Adam closed his eyes, he was taken back to the scene in the cavern. The hundreds of people in cloaks, each participating in a ritual that Adam now recognized as a line waking ceremony. The group was being led by the woman in the cloak, the one Adam hadn't been able to see before. He focused their attention on her. _Pull back the hood_ , he thought. The woman lifted her hands and moved the hood back. Adam heard a gasp as she turned. Her face was elegant and poised. Adam had seen her before, but where?

Adam’s mind wandering seemed to shift his vision. They were still in a dark cavern, but it was clearly a different location. It was a tiny space. There were bodies lying all over the ground, soldiers with swords protruding from their bodies. Glendower laid prostrate, his own sword through his gut. The black hooded woman was looming over him, her hand on the hilt of the sword. 

“Adam!” Anne’s voice brought him back. Rhys was doubled over in a ball on the floor. 

“What’s wrong?” Adam asked. 

“That woman,” he gasped, his body shaking.

“Yes, I know,” Adam tried to reassure him. “I saw it too. She’s Marred ferch Dafydd, Glendower’s wife.”

“No,” Rhys sat up as he caught his breath. “She’s my mother.”

Adam felt his phone buzz and pulled it out of his pocket. The screen said ten missed calls and five texts. He opened up the texts to see they were all from Blue. The last made Adam’s heart stop. _Call me now. Ronan’s missing._

***********

Ronan had to consciously force his eyes open. Even so, when he finally got them to comply, they were only slits. It was as though he had sandbags on his eyelids, weighing them down. As the room came into focus, he started to feel his arms, aching and strained behind his back, his wrists tied together. The chair he was sitting on was hard and cold.

The room was small. It appeared to be some sort of office with a tall filing cabinet and desk cluttered with manilla folders. There were no windows and only one door. The space was devoid of any significant markers to let him know where he was.

A woman sat in the desk chair, casually reading her phone. “Oh good, you’re awake,” she said when she noticed Ronan’s head bobbing up. His eyes rolled involuntarily as he tried to make out her face. He didn’t think he recognized her, but with the way his eyes felt, he wasn’t sure. 

“What-” Ronan tried to speak, but his mouth felt numb, his tongue like a foreign object. 

“Shhh,” she said, walking around the desk and sitting on the edge. She looked like an executive in an expensive suit. None of what Ronan saw made sense to him. “You’ll be feeling the effects of my friend for a little while,” she began. “When someone brings you to that level of unconscious, it can impact all your circulation. Think of it like when your foot goes to sleep, only it's happened to your entire body. Best to just let it wake up on its own. If you move too much, you’ll get that unpleasant burning feeling. And we should save all unpleasantness for later.”

Ronan tried to pull against the restraints on his wrists. His body was slow to respond and barely moved when it did. He was totally fucked. 

“My friend likes you—or maybe likes your friends is more accurate. So he suggested we try to do this the nice way first.” She shifted her attention toward the door. “Go ahead, give him some.”

There was movement in the dark corner near the door and then Ronan felt something cold and wet on his lips. He gulped down the water, feeling like he hadn’t drank for days. When the stream of liquid had stopped, he looked up at the face, still fuzzy from his unfocused eyes. “I’m sorry,” the familiar voice said. “If you just do what she asks, everything will be okay.”

Ronan could finally feel his lips. “And what the fuck does _she_ ask?” he spat, every syllable feeling more pronounced. 

“Well, Greywaren. Apologies, I love formalities— _Ronan_ , you don’t appear to be the brains of your operation. Likely the brawn, which doesn’t bode well for you all, considering how easily we brought you here.” Her face finally started coming into focus. Her brown hair was smooth and shiny, every strand perfectly in place. Her eyes were light and familiar. “But I assume you know of the Order and at least think you know what we are trying to achieve. I know you’ve spoken to Gwenllian, although her mind is so far gone now, I’m not sure she is help to anyone. She has only ever been a thorn in my side.”

“How do you know the loon?” Ronan asked as his head bobbed again. It took all his strength to keep his focus on the woman, to not fall back into the darkness. 

“Oh my dear, the loon, as you so tastefully refer to her, is my step-daughter. Such an abhorrently modern word, _step-daughter_. In our time we would just call her bastard. But I digress. She is also my own personal artwork. She always tried to meddle in my plans. Let her be an example of what can happen if you don’t cooperate.”

Ronan shook his head in disbelief. “You’re telling me that you are Glendower’s wife?” 

“So many of you boys say you are modern, and yet, you still define women by men.” She had turned and was now looking at Ronan head on. “Glendower was my husband, but he is no longer living, as I know that you are aware. I am Marred ferch Dafydd. I am Grandmaster of the Order of the Ravens. And you would be smart to not forget either of those facts.” 

“Margaret.” It was that voice again, coming from outside of Ronan’s sight line. “I think we shouldn’t waste time.”

“Is Veronica watching the borders?” she asked. 

“Yes, but-”

She waved him off. “Then we have as much time as we need.” 

“But Margaret—” 

“Commander, it would behoove you to remember your place.” Her voice was steel. 

“Yes, Grandmaster.” He gave a bow. Ronan’s vision was finally focused. His mind blanked with rage when he realized who was standing before him.

“Thank you, Nicholas,” she said, getting up off the desk and putting her hand on his shoulder. “I know I’ve been a mother figure to you since you lost your parents all those years ago. But we mustn't let our personal relationship get in the way of our mission.”

“Yes, of course,” he said. His eyes slid over to Ronan. 

“Are you fucking kidding me, Nick?” Ronan grit his teeth as he tried to restrain his voice. “All Adam has ever been is nice to you. And you shit on him like this?”

“You don’t understand, Ronan,” Nick argued. “We all need to help the Order if we want to survive.”

“Bullshit.” Ronan had no tolerance for the excuses. “You could have been straight with us.”

“You can blame me for all the clandestine operations,” Margaret interjected. “My reading had specific parameters we had to follow to wake the world’s magic. One wrong step and it wouldn’t have happened. Even when we controlled all the pieces, it didn’t go as planned.” The last comment was clearly directed toward Nick. “Shane was just as weak as Barrington. Using him was poor judgement.”

“I didn’t think he would go off like he did.” Nick sounded as though he was reiterating a previous argument. “You know he was part of the line waking, no matter what we had wanted.”

“True,” Margaret agreed. “You are just lucky he did not create irreparable damage.”

“Not to interrupt your Monday morning quarterbacking, but can we please get to the part where you twirl your mustache and reveal your evil plan to me just in time for me to get the hell out of here?”

“Aww.” Margaret placed her hand on the side of her face. “So petulant. So adorable.” She turned to speak to Nick as if Ronan was not there. “He still thinks he can escape. How about you give him a taste of reality?”

Nick turned to look at Ronan and his body was suddenly on fire. He gasped for breath, struggling to get free. The more he moved, the more it hurt. And then there was blackness.

***********

When Adam found Blue in the BMW, she was completely distraught, face wet and blotchy, her eyes a horrible red color. Gansey scooped her up, trying to console her, but it was no use.

Adam was ashamed to admit that his first impulse was to yell at Blue. She knew that Ronan was stubborn and made rash decisions. She shouldn’t have agreed to wait in the car. Except, Adam also knew this was completely unfair. If she had gone with Ronan, it might be the two of them they were looking for instead of just him. He should have never let Ronan go.

Adam let his anger melt away, recognizing that it was a symptom of his feeling of helplessness. It wasn’t easy, but he took a deep breath and tried to focus. His ring had gone black. He kept checking on it, hoping that he would catch it shining the brilliant silver, giving him some sense of connection between them. If Ronan was hurt or worse...no, he couldn’t even entertain the possibility. Life without Ronan wasn’t an option. 

Once Blue had composed herself, Adam suggested that they meet Rhys, Anne and Stace at Edith’s office. Though still clearly shaken at his realization about his mother, Rhys had only allowed himself a few moments of vulnerability before setting his mind to the task at hand - finding Ronan. He hadn't been able to reach her. According to his father, she had been out with clients all day. So, he took to Edith’s office to see if she knew anything. 

“Edith, she has Ronan!” Rhys’ voice echoed through the hallway in Pettengill as Adam, Blue and Gansey walked toward her office. “Where would she take him?”

“You would have a much better sense of your mother’s business dealings than I do, Rhys. All I know is that she has a few warehouses in the area, but I never had to go to any of them. She always brought her objects to me.” Adam got to the office just in time to see Edith casting a skeptical look at Rhys, as though he might be having a nervous breakdown. 

“Rhys,” Stace said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “She doesn’t know anything else.”

“But are you sure? We couldn’t tell with Shane.” He ran his fingers through his hair, as if straightening it would allow him to gain his composure.

“The lines weren’t awake then. Things are different now.”

“We need a lead,” Adam said as he walked into the room. “Where can we start looking?” He refused to just wait around. He needed to do something. They had tried to read Ronan, but couldn’t see anything. There was clearly a magical fog around him. They had no idea where to start.

“I have something,” Anne broke in. “I had forgotten about it, but it was one of the first things I dreamt. It liked Ronan.” She took out of her pocket a small glowing blue orb. When she opened her hands it started to slowly float off. “It always seems like it's trying to get away, to go back to him. Maybe it will lead us to him?”

“Ronan dreamt something like that before, right?” Gansey agreed. “It’s not too farfetched to assume that is what he showed you how to dream.”

Blue had been standing behind the rest of the group with Henry. At the mention of this plan, she perked up. “If I give you more energy when you read the dream object, maybe I can help you all find a starting point..”

“Adam,” Stace said, pointing to his ring. It had regained its bright silver sheen. The feeling of relief almost knocked him off his feet. Ronan was still alive.

***********

Ronan opened his eyes again. This time, he had known what to expect, so it took him much less time to orient himself to his surroundings. His eyes still hurt like hell, much like the rest of his body, but he didn’t waste time trying to focus them. Instead he used his energy to pull against the ropes around his wrists, which were digging into his skin. 

“Welcome back,” Margaret gave him a saccharine greeting, although the rest of her body language was less than welcoming. “Let’s get on with this. I still have a few clients I must see today. Now, Ronan. What we need from you is the key to the doorway leading to the crypt where Caledfwlch is being kept. Iolo, in his infinite wisdom, did not create the key. It needs to be dreamt. So here we are. That’s all we need from you. You do this and you can go free.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ronan slowly drew out the words. 

“Well, of course once we get Caledfwlch you might be useful, but still, you join us of your own free will and no more of this. And all you need to do is prove it by giving us the key.

“Adam told me you have hundreds of followers, why don’t you get one of them to do it?”

“Alas, Greywarens are rarer than you would think. Oh yes, there is Anne. But Anne’s capabilities are in their infant stage. And I’m not so sure she would have the stomach for anything unsavory that needs to be done. That’s why Shane was going to take her power.”

“But you said Shane acted on his own,” Ronan felt the ropes give, ever so slightly. The tiny glimmer of hope gave him strength to continue his efforts. 

“Shane decided to start the ceremony on his own, but it had always been the plan to get him to gain the power of the Greywaren. I had just hoped to get Rhys out of the way. He is such a foolishly loyal child.”

“Well, fuck you very much, it is not happening.” Ronan growled.

“This now bores me," she sighed. "It would be so much simpler if we could just use mind control, but your ability doesn’t come of the conscious mind. Once you get into a dream state, those with ability to control the conscious mind have no impact. But Nick, he can go pretty deep into your subconscious. He can’t make you dream something outright, but he can twist you up and plant suggestions you won’t even know are there. 

Ronan spat on her shoes. “Kiss my ass.”

Margaret grabbed ahold of Ronan’s head, nails digging into his skull, tilting his head up. “Listen boy.” She said the last word _boy_ as if she were saying _dog_. “Right now, you are the only thing between me and what I have been working centuries to achieve. This, you will live to regret.” She threw his head aside. “Nicholas!” she yelled.

“Yes, Grandmaster,” He answered as he reentered the room.

“Our friend here won’t willingly give us what we need. So let’s see what we can do to take it.” 

***********

Ronan gasped. It felt like the time that Matthew had run head long into his chest and knocked him over. It stung and he couldn’t catch his breath. The ground was frozen and hard. Rocks and sticks in the dirt dug at his palms. 

“What is this shit?” he murmured as he stood. This place was not his. It was bleak and desolate. Everything was gray. It felt wrong. 

“Kerah!” Opal’s voice came from a distance. “Kerah! Help!” 

“Ronan? Ronan, please!” Matthew’s voice followed.

“Fuck me.” Ronan took off toward them. He knew this was a dream. He knew they weren’t the real Opal and Matthew. But he knew he couldn’t ignore them regardless.

When he got to the voices, dream Opal was leaning over dream Matthew. Both had blackness covering parts of their body. “Help us, Ronan,” Matthew sobbed.

If this was a dream, Ronan could help. He tried to reach out to wipe away the thick dark sap-like substance. As he leaned toward them, an archway appeared behind them. Immediately, Matthew and Opal were sucked into the open doorway beyond it. Ronan ran after them, but the door slammed shut behind them.

“Ronan!” they yelled from behind it. He pulled at the door, but it would not move. For the first time, he noticed the keyhole. It began to glow and was filled with an intricate gold key. 

“This is just a dream,” Ronan told himself. “Don’t fucking touch that key.” Those assholes were toying with him. If he grabbed the key, he would bring it right to them. “Wake up, wake up, wake up.” He started slapping himself. The only way to end this was to leave the dream.

He turned away from the door and walked out of the archway. But instead of finding the empty grayscape he was previously in, he found himself now at the driveway at the Barns. It was dark, the headlights on the BMW the only real source of light. Ronan was hesitant as he carefully walked toward the running vehicle. It smelled of gasoline and the engine was ticking as it cooled down. The car door was open, as if someone had forgotten something and run to get it. The scene had an inkling of familiarity, like Ronan had seen this all before, but from another angle. As he walked around the car, he realized why. There on the ground laid Niall Lynch, face unrecognizable from blood and the beating he'd taken. A red, glistening tire iron lay only feet from his body. 

“Ronan!” the body groaned. But it wasn’t the voice of his father, it was Adam. “I knew you couldn’t protect me,” he gasped.

“Jesus, fuck!” Ronan was next to him before he'd even made the choice to move. “Adam, no. This is not real.” He closed his eyes. “This is not real. This is not real,” he whispered, rocking the dying dream Adam in his arms. 

“They know, Ronan.” Adam’s voice was ghostly. “You need to give them the key. They’re coming for me.”

“It’s okay.” Ronan felt wetness on his face. “It’ll be okay, Adam.”

“Ronan,” Adam pleaded. “I don’t want to die. Don’t let me die.”

“I won’t,” Ronan promised. “I’ll always protect you.”

“I was just dreaming of the day you were born,” his voice had changed. Ronan instantly recognized his father’s words. 

“Dad?” he asked and when he looked closer, he could see that it was actually his father’s face that had been bloodied and bruised. 

Niall Lynch gasped. It was a wretched sound, wet and raspy. Then his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Ronan’s chest heaved. 

When Ronan opened his eyes, he was back in the office. His wrists burned again, bound behind him. He was so grateful for the feeling’s grounding effect, orienting him back to the here and now. He knew what happened had not been real, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t _felt_ real.

When he looked down, he realized he was covered in something warm and slick. He could feel it dribbling down his wrists. _Blood._

Margaret stood over him, a look of extreme satisfaction on her face. She held a bloody metal object that she swung with one hand, grabbing and releasing it with her other. It only took Ronan a moment to recognize the crowbar from his dream.

“As you can see,” she said, “our methods are quite effective. It may take a few tries, but we’ll get what we want.” She leaned over to whisper in his ear, “Or, you could save us all the trouble and just bring me that key.”

“Fuck yourself sideways,” Ronan said between gasps. He had to figure out a way to get a message to Adam. Adam had scryed into his dreams before. There had to be some way to connect with him. He just had to focus. Adam. Adam. Adam.

“This is so tiresome, boy.” She sat back down on the edge of the desk. “We saw everything. We know what the key looks like. We even know what you fear most. I keep warning you, but you aren’t listening.”

“Again,” she said as Ronan’s eyes rolled to the back of his head.

***********

The reading of Anne’s object brought them all to an old converted mill a few miles out of town. It was still being renovated so it looked as though most of the building was empty. There were hundreds of windows; half of them had broken glass panes and on the other half, the framework around the glass was rotting. Adam wondered how many different rooms and areas there were to explore there. It could take hours to find Ronan.

“Well,” Anne said. “Hopefully this works.” She held up her hand with the tiny glowing blue orb. “Find Ronan.” The little blue light lazily floated around her until it moved to the car door. 

“I still can’t see him.” The exasperation in Stace’s voice was palpable. “They must have some protection around him.” 

“Can you both take Opal away from here? Will it work without you, Anne?” Adam was always calculating risk. Right now, the benefit of them all being there did not outweigh the possible unintended consequences. 

“But Adam!” Opal pouted. 

Adam turned to the back seat, “Opal, I’d be too worried about you if you come with me. And if I’m worried about you, I can’t focus on helping Ronan. You need to stay.”

“I’d like to go, Adam,” Anne’s voice cracked. “I know Ronan stayed in town in part to help me. If he didn’t, that would have been me in there.”

Adam wanted to reassure Anne, but his own fears were so loud, it was almost impossible to try to quiet those belonging to others. “Exactly,” he reasoned. “If we get Ronan free, they could go after you next.”

“Please,” Rhys asked, putting his hand on Anne’s. “I know why you want to come, but this is something I have to do.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

A light tap came from Adam’s window. Blue, Gansey and Henry stood outside, waiting for Adam to direct them. 

“Just take her to Professor Solis’ house, please? Ask her to call Mr. Gray and tell him we might need his help.” Adam cupped his hand around the blue floating ball and got out of the car. Opal smooshed her face on the glass and then placed her hand flat against it. Adam took his free hand and matched hers. His heart broke a little. 

Rhys got out of the other side of the car. Then Stace got into the driver’s seat, started the BMW and they drove way.

Adam looked at Blue, Gansey and Henry. Somehow in the end, it would always be them, fighting for each other.

***********

When Ronan opened his eyes this time, he could still hear his mother’s screams. _Help me, Ronan! Give them what they want!_ His head fell all the way back. He could feel the blood on his face run down his forehead. Fury and sadness and terror swelled inside of him. These fucks would likely keep going until they’d broken him. 

Nick was leaning against the wall next to the door. His expression was even more guilty than before. 

“I think,” Margaret said, unbuttoning the top button of her shirt, “it’s time to take this in a new direction. An opportunity has presented itself. Nick, have Tom and Patricia bring him in.”

Nick left for a moment and returned, followed by two people Ronan had never seen before holding up someone who was slumped forward, clearly unconscious. His head lolled to the side. It was Adam. 

“Adam!” Ronan screamed pulling as hard as he could at the ropes. He might as well be a million miles away from him. 

“Did you find the others?” she asked the two generic followers.

“Not yet,” the female one answered. 

“Keep at it,” she said, snapping her fingers. The two dropped Adam in a chair across the room and left.

“All right, I’m going to keep this simple since it seems like complex ideas are hard for you to understand.” Margaret walked over to Adam and lifted his chin. His eyes started to flutter.

“One. Adam is the most important person in your life. Two. I have this very cute, very light little gun here.” She took out the gun and twisted in the light for effect. “Three. I am going to shoot your precious Adam with this bullet.” She held up a tiny grey object and shoved it into the clip of the gun, before locking it in place. “Luckily I am an excellent markswoman so I will shoot him in a place where he won’t bleed out immediately. If you bring me back the key, I’ll give you the chance to save him. If you don’t, he dies. Easy as that.”

Ronan shook his head in disbelief. “Adam woke the line here. You need him. You aren’t going to shoot him.”

“Oh, I’m not? Watch me.” She held out her arm, aimed and shot Adam in the stomach. The gunshot left a ringing in Ronan’s ear, but he still was able to make out the two distinct sounds that followed it. The first was a painful groaning noise from Adam and the next was the soft thump of his body falling to the floor. Adam’s eyes flickered open as he grasped at his stomach. “Tick, tock Ronan. As they say, ‘Time’s a wastin’.” 

“Adam?’ Ronan called out across the room. “Adam can you hear me?” Ronan’s voice seemed to go right through him. “Jesus Fucking Christ,” he yelled. “Fine, fucking knock me out already!”

Nick must have done his thing because Ronan instantly found himself at the archway. He ran inside, grabbed the key and yelled, “Hey Assholes, I’ve got your precious key!”

When he woke, he could feel the cold of the key in his hands. “Now!” Ronan was still yelling. “Let. Me. Go!”

Nick untied Ronan’s wrists as he thrashed violently, trying to pull away. Once free, Ronan sprang from the chair and cradled Adam’s head in his arms. There was a red ring on the floor around his body. “Do something!” Ronan screamed as he put pressure on the wound. “You promised!”

Margaret shrugged, looking at the nails on her hand. “I said I would give you a chance. I didn’t say I’d help.”

“Adam,” Ronan was crying. “Adam, call Cabeswater. Call Lilyhaven. Tell it to heal you.”

“I can’t feel it,” Adam was mumbling. “Something is wrong here.”

“No, Adam. You can do it. Just try! You’re the only person I know who can do absolutely any fucking thing you want to do.”

“Ronan, it’s okay.” Adam lifted his hand to Ronan’s face. “It will be ok. You and Gansey will find a way to make it right.”

“Not without you,” Ronan sobbed. “Nothing could ever be right without you.” 

“Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis,” Adam whispered. And then his breath stopped. His eyes glazed over and he was gone.

***********


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More answers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to leave everyone hanging with that last chapter so here's a bonus one since the last one took longer than I had wanted.

All Ronan could feel was blind hot rage. He would scorch the earth. He would kill them all. 

His ears filled with a high pitched squeal, the same noise he'd sometimes hear when it was too quiet, a ringing in his ears with no source - except this was so loud, it shot through his head. He closed his eyes to focus his mind through the pain. 

When he opened them, he was in Cabeswater with a large creature standing before him. It was larger than Ronan by about a foot, with bat-like wings that spanned around twenty feet when the creature expanded them. Jagged claws twitched at their top. The head was that of reptile, with sharp, nail-like teeth that were at least 5 inches long. Its entire body was covered in iridescent scales. It stood on massive, weapon-like talons. He had never seen this particular creature before, but he knew it was a night terror. 

Ronan instinctively threw up his arms to shield himself. But nothing happened, and after a moment, he shifted his arms back down to see he was back in the office. Nick must have still been fucking with him. Ronan’s brain was such a massive muddle of chaos, it was almost impossible to keep his bearings. 

A loud screech like that of a hawk finally cut through Ronan’s confusion. Nick was in the corner by the door, holding up a chair and doing his best to fend off Ronan’s newest nightmare. Margaret was edging away, putting as much distance between her and it as possible. The noise it was making must have gotten the attention of henchwoman 1 and henchman 2 because they both came barrelling in the door to see what was happening. 

The night terror had been snapping at all of them, keeping a parameter around Ronan. He watched as it angled them all to the back corner of the room. Ronan grabbed Adam’s body and hiked it up over his shoulders.

Nick had a huge gouge on his face and the two others’ shirts and pants were shredded. Margaret seemed to be the only one who was currently unscathed, hiding behind her minions. But the night terror had trained its attention on her, reaching and clawing to get past the others. Ronan backed out of the room and kicked the door shut. He hoped they all burned in hell. 

The next room was a small warehouse filled with tall shelving packed with large wooden crates. He could hear voices coming from one of the far rows. Ronan had no idea how the fuck he was getting out of there alive.

He ran to the last row away from the noise and leaned to look down the aisle. It was clear, so he continued down to the far end of the room. A few feet around the corner was a set of double-doors. Once he rounded this corner, he would expose himself to anyone in the adjacent rows. He likely only had a few minutes to get clear before someone saw him. He stopped to readjust Adam on his shoulder. His body ached from the strain. His entire shirt was soaking wet. From blood. The smell of copper made Ronan want to throw up. 

His chest shook. He was gasping for air through the grief. The pain made him want to end it all. He could just lay down here with Adam and stay with him. He could stop trying. He wiped the sweat from his face and a hint of purple from the wristband Opal had made him caught his eye. Opal. Opal would need him. He had to find her. 

He took a moment to compose himself before going for the door. But when he told his body to move, it didn’t. He tried to move his feet, even an inch, but they were cemented in place. It didn’t matter how much effort he exhausted, his body would not comply with his mind. Some supernatural asshole must have been fucking with him. It was like the functioning of his brain to his body had short circuited. 

He could hear steps around the corner. “He’s over there!” a farther voice yelled. Mother fucking fuck. Ronan couldn’t believe his own body had betrayed him.

He waited for the owner of the voice to come into his sight. And waited. And waited. What were these fuckers doing? There was a loud crash and the scratching and screeching coming from the far end of the warehouse suddenly got louder.

And then a person came around the corner. A tiny blue light fluttered by her face. Sargent. Shimmers of light flickered off her metal hair clips as Anne’s dream object moved around her. “Ronan?” Her voice was shaking. “Is that you?” 

As she moved toward him, whatever hold was on his body started to slowly melt until he could twitch his legs and shift his weight. When he could finally fully see her face, it was twisted, like she was seeing something horrific. Ronan realized it was him. 

“Who...who is that?” she asked. 

“Blue, we have to get the fuck out of here. Is Gansey here?”

“They’re all here. They’re holding the guards out front. I came in to scout.” 

Ronan took a step closer to her, finally able to move. She flinched away. “Ronan,” her voice was insistent. “ _Who_ is that?”

“I’m sorry, Blue. I couldn’t leave him.” Ronan’s voice cracked. 

“EEEEEEYYYYYAAAAAA.” An unholy sound rang out. Ronan looked up and the night terror was now fluttering and flying about the ceiling, like a trapped animal, trying to find its way to the sky. Gun shots echoed in the room as the noise of scattered footsteps came closer to them. 

“Blue, we have to go!” 

That seemed to snap her out of her distress and spur her into motion. As they ran out into the corridor, the lights flickered as if someone was docking the line. Oh holy hell, what were these fuckers doing now?

“Blue!” someone called from the end of the hallway. Was that Gansey? He sounded strange. “Blue!” The voice was fearful, but still recognizable—it was Adam. 

Ronan’s feet stopped moving. “Adam?” he called, filled with a desperate hope. 

Adam came around the corner, relief washing over his face. He looked vital, alive. Ronan's heart sputtered back into life. He hadn’t realized it had stopped beating. Without thinking, he set down the body he had been carrying and ran to him. He put his hands on Adam’s face, touching the small scar on his forehead, tracing the small bump on his nose. He held his familiar, beautiful face in his hands, warming with every breath he felt him exhale. Ronan’s eye caught on his ring. It sparkled brightly despite being covered with blood. He should have checked it before. He couldn’t trust his senses, but he could trust this.

“What the holy fuck,” Adam gasped, looking at his own face laying on the ground. 

“I thought—” Ronan’s throat was tight. “I thought it was you.” 

“Hey.” Adam ran his hands over the back of Ronan’s neck. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” He looked Ronan in the eyes, seemingly assessing something. “We need to go. Can you go now?”

Ronan nodded. “But we can’t leave him,” he said, pointing to the other Adam on the ground.

“No, we can’t,” he agreed. The two of them picked up the body together and shuffled through the exit. 

Rhys, Gansey and Henry were standing on the other side of the door, circling about half a dozen people. The people they were surrounding all looked strangely _normal_ , but their expressions told Ronan that they were under some sort of magic influence. 

“I can’t believe you,” Rhys was saying to a short woman wearing a gray wool coat. “How could you not tell me any of this?”

“Rhys, dear, it was for the best.” The woman was round in every possible way, from her features to the way she spoke, her words swooping out in a very lyrical, soothing way. 

When Gansey turned his attention to Adam and Ronan carrying the body, his face changed from determination to horror. His friend’s reactions were his only real indication of how ghastly he looked. “This.” Ronan motioned to dream Adam with a nod. “I’ll explain later. Another one of my friendly night terrors is in there fucking shit up. I suggest we get the hell out of here.” 

Almost as if it heard Ronan, the windows of the side of the building blew out, millions of tiny shards of glass flying everywhere. The night terror burst into the air. 

Gansey turned to the group. “Go inside and lock yourselves in.”

Three of them immediately obeyed, but the round woman and a tall man remained. “Veronica,” Rhys addressed the woman, his voice pleading. “Don’t make me force you.”

“Oh sweetie,” she sighed. “Gerald and I are very strong. It will take more than a few children to make us do anything.”

“Lady, we’ve got a lot of power here.” Blue shuffled over to Gansey and grabbed his hand. She took Rhys’ hand in the other and nodded for Henry to join, and he put his hands on Blue’s shoulders. “Again,” she instructed.

“Go inside,” Gansey said again. 

The woman’s eyes grew wide, a look of terror on her face. The man grew extremely pale. They both ran inside, locking the door behind them.

The night terror swooped low. They all ducked, covering their heads. Henry, still covering himself, called out, “Let’s get the funk out of here!” 

***********

Dream Adam had to be buried in Lilyhaven because the ground was frozen solid everywhere else. Ronan refused to let anyone help him do it, so Adam walked out to the woods with him and waited, sitting on a rock on the edge of the dream forest. He hadn’t wanted to let him out of his sight, but Ronan couldn’t be budged. 

Adam had reminded him not to bury him directly on the line in the off chance that they would all then have a ghost Adam to contend with. Man, Noah would have had a field day with all of this. _Double Adams mean double trouble_ , he would have said. Death was just a big joke to ghosts.

His mind was twisting in on itself trying to accept the fact that there had even been another him. It wasn’t as though Adam didn’t know it was possible; he did, but somehow a living, breathing copy of himself made one question the limits of possible. Ronan was clearly mourning, which saddened Adam and also made him feel somewhat jealous. Adam knew it was strange, to be jealous of yourself, but he had been the sole receiver of that type of affection from Ronan for so long that it was difficult to share it. 

Ronan strode back toward Adam, shovel thrown over his shoulder, dirt smudging his face, his eyes tired and beautiful. Adam couldn’t imagine what he had been through these last few hours, but he knew it weighed heavy and he wished he could help. Ronan’s soul was about creation. Destruction wore away at it.

Ronan was wearing an old Bates t-shirt of Edith’s. It smelled of roses and cinnamon like her house. “Let’s go,” Ronan said, grabbing the back of Adam’s neck and pulling him close. He'd been tethering himself to Adam whenever they were within reach of each other. A palm on his knee, a pinky wrapped in his, fingers threaded through Adam’s hair, all ways to reassure him that Ronan was there and wasn’t going anywhere. 

“EEEEYYYYAAAH.” The familiar sound of Ronan’s newest night terror rang out through the trees. Adam looked up to see it flying toward them from a distance. 

“Jesus,” Adam said, covering his face as it swooped down on them. “Ronan?” he yelled, uncertain of what the creature wanted.

Ronan had ducked slightly too. “It’s okay, the ugly fucker won’t hurt us. It was going after those assholes back there because it knew that's what I wanted.” He looked up as it circled around the sky. “I guess it came to find me.”

“The Feds are gonna love this,” Adam muttered. 

“I hope they piss their pants,” Ronan sneered. It was such a typically Ronan look, it filled Adam with relief. 

The night terror swooped down again and they both instinctively ducked. As it careened toward the sky, something gold and shiny dropped from its talons. Ronan leaned over to pick it up. As he stood back up, he held a large shiny key. “Fuck,” he breathed. 

When Adam looked across the field, he saw the rest of their group coming toward them. Opal was running and collided with the two of them with the full force of her body. Ronan groaned and hitched her up into his arms.

“Margaret and her creeps are on their way,” Stace said. “We need to go.” Edith and Henry had been a few feet behind and joined Stace. Anne and Rhys stopped behind them, both looking equally concerned. Blue and Gansey walked up to Ronan, Gansey putting his arm on his shoulder. Adam could feel them all humming together with the line. They felt powerful.

“But where can we go that she and her goons won’t be able to find us?” Anne asked.

Ronan held up the key. “The center of the world’s magic.”

***********


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epic conclusion of this monster of a fic. Epilogue to follow shortly...

Adam could feel the strength of them all together, their small army of Magicians. He could feel Cabeswater reaching for them, curling its tendrils around the group, trying to protect them. He could feel their destiny laid out before them. It was time to follow in the steps of the Knights of Caledfwlch. It was time to wake the world’s magic. 

Now that the connecting lines were awake, Lilyhaven had become even more vibrant. Even stray thoughts were having an impact on the environment. As they walked through the woods, flowers sprang from their footprints and music burst forth from the trees. It felt like home.

“Hello Greywarens,” the trees greeted, now a mix of Cabeswater’s and Lilyhaven’s woodland inhabitants. The distinctive features of each dreamscape had begun to mix and grow together, in the same way vegetation can take over a place if gone unchecked. 

The archway stood in the same location where they had previously found it, the only thing that appeared static in this dynamic place. Adam could feel the line pulsing as they walked through the archway to the door, light dancing around them as it broke through the intertwined vines and branches. Adam knew they were on the verge of something vast. His heart beat loud in his chest, in time with the line. 

“I’ll go first,” Ronan said. “I’m the only one who's been through this before.” He pushed the key into the keyhole and turned. The group let out a collective sigh at the click. Ronan pushed the door inward. 

The hallway beyond the door looked the same as the area before it, light glowing through greenery. But it also felt different: gauzy and warm and wonderful. _Magician._ Adam could feel his mind opening to the edges of the dreamscapes. He could feel them slowly expanding. A squirrel scampered and darted at the edge of Lilyhaven. A woodpecker knocked on a tree in Cabeswater. A prairie dog dug a hole in the midwest. When Adam was on the line, he was connected to it all. But here in this place, it wasn’t chaotic. It was all encompassing, but easily focused. It was natural. As much a part of himself as breathing. 

As the rest of the group joined them on the other side of the archway, a loud beeping sound rang out around them. “Is that your alarm clock, Anne?” Stace asked.

Anne had covered her ears. “Yes, I dreamt an alarm on Lilyhaven. It was the most annoying sound I could think of. Someone else must be here.”

“Nice work, Johnson,” Ronan said, holding out his fist. 

Anne smiled and bumped his fist with hers. 

“Adam.” Stace’s voice was unsure. She reached out to grab his hand. “They’re coming.” As she touched him, it instantly brought Adam to the edge of Cabeswater, a sea of people on their way to them. 

“Jesus, there are hundreds of them.” He could feel them all. They were on their way to capture them. 

“Can’t we just shut the door on them?” Anne asked. 

Ronan pulled at the key. “Uh, I don’t think so. The fucking thing is stuck.”

They were all screwed. Adam had only one idea: try to stall the Order long enough for them to get Excalibur. “Gansey, does this place feel different to you in terms of your abilities?” 

“Yes.” He nodded. “I was just noticing that it felt like I could actually turn my power on and off here.”

“Edith,” Rhys asked. “What do you know about this place from your studies?”

Edith had been quiet, seemingly studying every new discovery in Lilyhaven. “The path to Caledfwlch itself is supposed to be a magical conductor. The magic of this place is how all magic will be once the center is activated, for lack of a better word.” 

“So,” Henry jumped in, “if Blue sets her phasers on amplify and the rest of us try to use our bibbity bobbity boo, we could maybe force all of them to get the hell out of here?”

“Ronan, can you and Anne go after Excalibur while we try to hold off the Order?” Gansey clearly expected Ronan to argue because Ronan always argued. 

Ronan let out a groan and looked at Adam. Adam tried his best to give Ronan his _please do this for me_ expression. How had he ever gotten Ronan to do anything before he learned the impact of that look? Oh right, he didn’t. “Fine.” Ronan moved his body in an exaggerated flounder to indicate compliance. “Opal, you come with me.”

Opal had been dancing around Edith, playing with a flower that she'd picked along the path. It opened and closed as she blew on it, just like the first dream object Anne had shown him. “I’ll join you as well,” Edith said, holding up the Red book. “Maybe I can figure out what our next steps are when we find Excalibur.”

Adam reached out and squeezed Ronan’s hand, an unspoken thank you. “We don’t have much time.”

“Let’s go,” Anne said, grabbing Opal’s hand, the four of them starting down the glimmering hallway. Ronan’s hand held onto his until he was too far to reach. As Adam’s hand fell back to his side, Ronan looked back once over his shoulder, his face complicated. Adam liked it about as much as Ronan did, but he felt better knowing that he and Opal would be farther from the horde of people who wanted to capture them all.

“Let’s get in a circle,” Stace said. “Everyone hold hands.” They all gathered up. “Adam, the line favors you, so you should try to call it. Blue, you try to make us all stronger and everyone else focus on using whatever you’ve got on these creeps.”

In Adam’s mind he could see the line, flowing underground. He was like a lightning rod, calling it to him and then directing it through the others. It was the most amazing thing he had ever felt. 

“Leave,” Gansey said simply.

And then Adam could see the Order, suddenly stopped. Some appeared confused, wandering around aimlessly. Others just turned on their heels and left. Still others seemed to be preoccupied with other ideas, picking at flowers in the grass or climbing the trees. Adam told the trees to grow around them, making a barricade of vines and branches that would prevent their future progress. By the time he was done, those who remained in Lilyhaven were corralled like cattle with no immediate way to get out. 

***********

Ronan couldn’t believe Adam wanted him to leave him again. This is how they got into all this god damned trouble in the first place. But he did agree that things could go to hell at any moment. So if they could figure out how to open the door to the crypt with the G.D. sword while the rest of them held off the magic assholes, then maybe—just maybe—they could all come out of this alive.

“Fucking Iolo,” Ronan cursed the original Greywaren when he came upon the door with the sword, another empty keyhole mocking them. “We need another key.” 

“How are we supposed to dream in all of this?” Anne asked. She had picked up Opal and was holding her on her left hip. Opal was running her fingers through Anne’s large curls. “There’s no way I could sleep right now.”

“Maybe we don’t have to sleep.” Ronan didn’t think he was actually sleeping when he dreamt the night terror or dream Adam. He had just accessed his subconscious. It was a bit like using Kavinsky’s pill, a quicker, easier way to to get to the dream state. The only problem was, Nick had forced him into that state. He wasn’t sure he could do it on his own. 

“All we can do is try,” Anne said. “Edith, can you watch Opal?”

“Sure,” Edith nodded. “Come here, little one.” She sat down on the ground and patted the area beside her. Opal climbed down from Anne, scampering over and sitting down beside Edith, still playing with the dream flower. Ronan found a space against the wall of vines and Anne did the same.

“I guess,” Ronan said, “we should try it the old fashioned way. And if we can figure out how to do it faster, then all the better.” They both closed their eyes and tried to relax. It was a strange action to be taking, knowing the others were only feet away trying to stop a mob of magical people from capturing them. “Just try to clear your mind,” he told Anne. “Like you would when you're trying to sleep and see what happens.”

Ronan took a deep breath and tried to wipe away his own thoughts. But his mind kept bouncing and racing to Adam, to Opal, to the magic he was feeling around him. And then he heard the noise. The sharp, low, ear piercing noise of too much quiet, the same noise he heard when he'd dreamt his most recent night terror. Except this didn’t seem to be working. He opened his eyes, planning to readjust himself to get more comfortable—and then he was standing in Cabeswater. Anne was also standing before him, looking at the ground. There was another key, this one with Glendower’s crest on the end, the distinct raven carved into the handle. She looked up at him, questioning. 

“It was just here,” she said, leaning down to pick it up. 

“Let’s go,” Ronan said and in an instant they were both again sitting on the ground, Anne holding the key.

“Whoa,” she murmured. “That was so easy.” She twisted the key around in her hands, eyes wide in disbelief. 

“It’s a new fucking world,” Ronan said. “Let’s see if it works.” But he knew it would. Anne slid it into the keyhole and turned it slightly. It made a loud click. 

When Ronan stepped into the crypt, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The walls were smooth marble and in the center of the room there was a large sword sticking out of an even larger slab of rock, the hilt shimmering in a way that it could only be due to magic. Ronan walked over to it and tried to pull at the blade. It did not move at all, as if it was melded into the stone. “Glendower was such a fucking asshole,” he mumbled to himself.

“What now?” Anne asked. 

“We get Gansey.” And it may have been just a coincidence or it may have been that intention had the ultimate power in this place, but at his declaration Gansey and the others appeared at the door. 

***********

Gansey could feel it pulling him. The feeling of time slipping, of being in this moment hundreds of times before and recreating it a hundred times in the future. Every trial and adventure in his life had been leading to this very moment. His death, his resurrection, his purpose. 

Glendower had loved Arthurian mythology, so it was no surprise that he had recreated the most famous of the legends here, with himself in the role of King Arthur. When Gansey walked into the door, he knew the sword was his. He knew he was the only one who could remove it from the stone. 

And everyone else seemed to know it too. They were all standing around the rock, looking at him, waiting. “Go ahead, Gansey,” Adam nodded toward the sword. Blue grabbed his shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze. 

He knew what needed to happen now, but he had no idea what would happen next. He was terrified.

Gansey held out his hand as he stepped toward the rock. He could feel the air humming, like the vibrations coming off a loud speaker. As he moved closer, the feeling intensified. He looked back at Blue. She seemed so far away. She gave him a half smile and he continued on. The rock that the sword was lodged in was big, large enough that he had to climb it to reach the sword hilt. He put an unsure foot on one of the ledges and started to climb when his feet slipped. As he started to stumble, two sets of hands steadied him. Adam and Ronan were fortifying his legs as he pulled himself up. He let out a breath and took another step, now secure in his footing. After only a few more steps, the hilt was within reach. 

Gansey had seen many medieval swords, relics of a world passed. They all resonated with ancient stories, with history of lives already lived. But this sword, it looked vital. It wasn’t an artifact; it was a weapon. 

Up this close, he could see the guard was emblazoned with a raven in flight. When his hand grasped the hilt, it was unexpectedly warm. Adam always talked about feeling the line energy, but this was the first time Gansey had been able to experience it for himself, pure and true. It was thrilling. In his mind, he saw Glendower’s journey. The sword shared all that he had tried to accomplish and all that led to his demise. 

He took a deep breath, centered his weight, and pulled. The sword unsheathed from the stone with ease. He held it up to the light, admiring the beauty of its craftsmanship. 

“Parate regis corvi,” Adam declared. Gansey looked at him expecting fear or anger or jealousy, but all he saw was admiration. 

Edith echoed Adam, “Parate regis corvi!” And she bowed down in reverence.

The others followed like ripples in a pond.

He was a king.

***********

“How touching, and misguided,” a voice came from the doorway. Adam looked back to see both Margaret and Nick standing behind them. “That one,” she pointed to Blue and she instantly fell to the ground.

“Jane!” Gansey called out as Henry and Edith ran to tend to her.

“Mother!” Rhys yelled. “Stop this!” 

“You.” She spoke to Gansey while she had a gun trained on Blue. “Don’t try your little tricks or she will pay for it. I’m much stronger willed than the peons you have been dealing with. It takes more than a mere suggestion to control me. How do you think I outwitted Glendower? But go ahead, underestimate me like he did and you’ll meet the same fate.” She moved toward the rock, sweeping back and forth with the gun. “That goes for all of you.”

“Mother,” Rhys tried again, putting himself between her and the others. “You don’t have to do this. We can do this together. As a family.”

“Son, you have too much of your sniveling father in you. Mortal and stupid. I warned you about trying to use your powers. You’ve never been able to manipulate my emotions before, why do you think you could have any impact now.” She turned to Nick. “Him too.” And at this, Rhys dropped to the floor. 

“No!” Anne cried, dropping to the ground to cradle his head in her arms. “How could you? He’s your son.”

“This state will wear off,” Margaret said matter-of-factly. “His weakness will not. That’s the real tragedy.”

“Nick.” Adam had been watching his face as Margaret spoke. He looked pained. “Why would you do this?”

“I’m sorry, Adam.” Nick looked to the ground. “It’s the only way. People without magic won’t understand.”

“That’s not true,” Gansey said, letting Excalibur fall to his side. Margaret was slowly making her way towards him. Adam could see into her mind: she wanted that sword and she wanted Gansey dead. 

“Yes, it is.” Nick turned to him. “My parents were killed just because they had magic. This is war. We can’t waver.” 

“They probably fucking deserved it.” All the color had drained from Ronan’s face. He had already been through more than the average person could handle in one day and Adam suspected he was at the brink. Ronan’s _shoot first ask questions later_ mentality could get them all killed. 

“Enough, Nicholas. The rest,” she said, swinging her arm indicating everyone else. “Except these two.” She pointed to Ronan and Anne. 

Immediately, Edith dropped, then Opal, Stace, and Henry. Nick swung his attention to Adam. He only had one chance before he'd be out cold like the rest of them. Adam focused his attention on Margaret and pulled the gun out of her hand. 

“You.” Margaret turned to him. She held out her hand and Adam’s body slammed against the hard wall. The gun skittered on the ground away from him. He could feel his throat closing in on itself. He gasped for breath. “You’re surprised I can use the line power the same way you can? Did you think you were the only one?” She walked closer to him, tightening the grip on his throat. “You are the biggest fool of them all. You have the power at your fingertips, but you give it away. Why would this boy deserve to be the king when you are the one who controls the line?”

“Adam!” Ronan yelled as Gansey, who had scrambled down the rock, held him back. Adam’s feet kept slipping as he tried to hold himself up against the invisible force crushing his windpipe. He gasped again, trying to focus his mind enough to fight it. 

“Margaret,” Nick implored. “Please don’t hurt him.”

“We don’t need him,” Margaret’s gaze burned into Adam. “I can call the line for the ritual. Besides, we don’t want anyone who has this much influence over the line to retain that power once the world’s magic is awake.”

Adam’s sight had started to blur. Voices became muffled. He could feel his consciousness slipping away and then the cold floor against his cheek, air finally filling his lungs again—then suddenly, Ronan was pulling him up to a sitting position, and he could breath again.

Nick was standing over Margaret, who looked to be out cold. The others were now stirring, as his power wore off. “You need to go now.” Nick’s voice was grave. “I don’t know if I can keep her under for very long. And once she wakes up, we’re all dead.”

“I’m going to stay here,” Rhys said. “She’s my responsibility. I might not be able to influence her with my magic by myself, but I have to try to help.”

“Okay, Anne,” Ronan said, standing up. “We’ve got this.”

“No, Ronan.” She grabbed his arm. “You’ve got this. I need to stay and help. I’m going to try to dream something to keep her contained.”

“Yeah, you are,” Ronan agreed, knocking her lightly on her chin.

“I learned from the best,” she said, sitting down on the ground. It only took a moment before she looked as though she was in a trance. 

Adam held out his arm toward the discarded gun. It flew to his hand like one magnet to another. He focused all his attention on it and it bent in half. Even though it's what he'd intended, he could still barely believe it.

“Bad ass,” Ronan said and threw his arm around Adam. Blue, Gansey and Stace were standing close, waiting to see what he would do. Ronan closed his eyes and his face went blank. Adam had never seen him do this standing before. But before he even had time to worry about him falling over, Ronan was conscious again. There was now a large metal drawbridge with a chained wheel in the middle of the marble wall in front of them. Adam had often thought he he couldn’t ever be more in awe of Ronan Lynch. He was wrong.

“A little over the top, don’t you think?” Adam teased. 

“Shut it, Parrish,” Ronan said as he shoved him. 

“Gross, you two.” Stace brushed by them. “Let’s get this thing open.”

Henry seemed to know exactly what Stace intended, because he joined her at the lever and together they pushed. The chains started to release and the gate slowly lowered. 

A gust of brisk wind rushed in from the open gateway. It looks like night had fallen on the other side. As the seven of them walked out into the open air, the sky spread before them, bright shining stars covering the blanket of black.

“Wait, are we…” Stace began as she walked out into the circular area before them. It was hard to distinguish clearly in the dark, but it looked like gigantic stones surrounded them. 

“Stonehenge.” Edith exhaled deeply, turning to look at the formation around them. Opal caught sight of the wide open space and started running around the large monolithic stones.

“Kind of on the nose, isn’t it, Universe?” Blue shouted into the abyss, although the glee in her voice made it clear she was excited at their discovery. 

“It makes sense,” Gansey said. “People have wondered what the significance of this formation is for thousands of years. Experts in the field suspected that it was on the convergence of a number of ley lines.”

Ronan directed a curtsey to Gansey. “Magical fucking mystery solved, your majesty. Now what?”

“Can you dial the thoughts down a decibel, Henry?” Adam asked. “You’re giving me a headache.” 

“Sorry,” Henry said aloud. “I was just excited!”

Stace leaned into Henry and whispered, “ _I_ think it’s cool that you saw Gwen Stefani here a couple of years ago.”

“You would,” Ronan snarked. Stace responded with a well-earned sticking-out-of-the-tongue.

Edith was already flipping through the Red Book. She stopped at a page notes taped to it. “ _The Raven King must dip Caledfwlch, ordained with the magician’s blood, into the central vortex,”_ she read. “ _The magician will then have the full power over the line bestowed unto him, stretching across the world. And Caledfwlch’s true power will be revealed, controlled only by the Raven King.”_

“Well, since we’re in a circle, I think we can figure out where the center is,” Blue said as she turned around for effect.

“I think you just need my blood, Gansey.” Adam held up his arm in front of his friend. 

Gansey stepped back. “But what does that all really mean, Adam? We don’t even know what the true power of Caledfwlch is. Are you ready to have that much control over the line?” 

“I don’t know. It just feels like what's supposed to happen.” Sure, Adam was scared. He didn’t want to end up like Shane, but the difference between him and Adam was that Adam had Ronan, Blue and Gansey. “Isn’t this what you have been searching for all this time?” Adam asked.

Gansey brushed his hand through his hair. “I don’t know anymore. When I touched the sword, I saw Glendower and Margaret. They loved one another once. The energy of the line, it corrupted them. What if that happens to us? I don’t know if any one person should have this much power.”

_Power._ Adam caught a glimpse of them all. It was so brief, it was only the essence of the future, but he knew what they had to do. “The blood on the sword is what connects the magician to the line. And the person holding the sword when the line activates controls the power of Caledfwlch. So what if, instead of it being one of us, it was all of us?”

“Uh, guys,” Stace said. “Not to interrupt your existential crisis, but I’m pretty sure Margaret is waking up. If we don’t do this, she will.”

“Do you trust me?” Adam asked Gansey. 

“Of course I do, Adam. I trust you with my life.” 

“Then give me Caledfwlch.” Adam held out his hand to his friend. “And your blood.”

Adam took Caldefwlch from his hand and ran it quickly over Gansey’s forearm. Blood trickled out of the cut. Adam took some of it and wiped it on the blade. “Who’s next?” he asked. 

Ronan held out his arm. “You’re a crazy asshole, but you know I’m always with you.”

Blue and Henry stepped forward, arms stretched in front of them. “I guess I deserve this since I stabbed you that one time,” Blue said as she closed her eyes and winced at the cut.

Adam cut all of them one by one, until the blade was smeared with blood. 

“Stace?” Adam asked. She looked at him, clearly uncertain. “You can either let the magic control you or stand up and start controlling it.”

She nodded and held out her arm.

Then he took his own arm and cut himself, adding his own blood to the mix on the sword. 

“Edith?” Adam asked, holding up the sword. “How about you?”

“It’s really sweet of you to offer Adam, but I think I like being non-magical. And I’m not sure if involving me might muck it all up.” Edith picked up Opal. “There’s no time to waste. Now, each of you go stand around the center. Make sure you all are touching Excalibur.”

Adam looked at them all standing in a circle, spokes of a wheel with Caledfwlch in the center. The Raven King and his Magicians. The Knights of Caledfwlch. Adam called the ley line power to their feet. “Make way for the Raven Kings,” he said, letting out a breath and driving the sword into the ground.

A shock wave reverberated out from Caledfwlch, shaking the entire earth. The enormous stones started to vibrate. The night sky lit up with glowing ribbons of green and blue and pink. 

The world’s magic was awake.

***********


	22. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [wildflowersoul](http://archiveofourown.org/users/wildflowersoul/pseuds/wildflowersoul) and [Tenillypo](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenillypo/pseuds/Tenillypo) are the best editors and friends a person could ever have. I will never be able to repay them for all the hours they spent reading, editing and encouraging my writing, but I am sure gonna try. 
> 
> If you want to chat about this fic or anything else about Pynch or TRC, feel free to comment or find me on Tumblr: [Incandescentflower](http://www.incandescentflower.tumblr.com)

Ronan opened his eyes to warm morning sun splashing across the bedspread. Early mornings at the Barns always felt the same regardless of how old he was, full of hope and possibility. For a moment, he thought he was alone. Then he reached to the other side of the bed. 

“Morning,” Adam responded at Ronan’s touch. His southern accent had gotten stronger since coming back home. Ronan loved hearing it almost as much as he loved Adam. 

“God, it’s seven fucking a.m. How can you have lived with me this long and still be such an overachieving asshole?” Ronan playfully shoved the pile of books that were laid out on Adam’s lap.

“Since you have no interest in formal education, I feel it necessary to gain enough knowledge for the both of us. And I have a brief to finish for my Legal Research course tonight.”

Ronan rolled onto his side to get a good look at him. Adam in his bed was one of his favorite scenes to take in. “Oh, don’t pretend like you haven’t already written that thing.” 

“I still have to edit it!” Adam protested, straightening his pile of books. “And the drive to UVA takes at least an hour on a good day. I can’t be late in the first week.”

“It takes you that long because you drive like Grandma Gansey,” Ronan said. Adam playfully punched Ronan in the arm. “You still have plenty of time.” Ronan softened his tone as he took Adam’s books and put them on the end table. “Right now there's some other work that requires your attention. And you wouldn’t want to get a failing grade.”

“No.” Adam gave him a glowing smile. “I wouldn’t want that.” 

“Time to put your overachieving to good use,” Ronan whispered as he pulled Adam close to him. Adam laughed and wrapped his arms around Ronan’s neck. Ronan let his happiness spillover as he ran his fingers through Adam’s sand colored hair. He had barely dared to hope for this moment when Adam left for school three years ago. 

Ronan’s body hummed as Adam’s lips trailed down his neck. “A for effort,” Ronan mumbled. 

Adam stopped at Ronan’s chest. “Only an A!” he gasped, pulling the covers over his head. “I guess I need to work harder for that A+.”

Ronan knew Adam was joking, but something about what he said struck a serious note. He cupped Adam’s cheek and maneuvered himself down the bed so they were facing each other. “Adam, there is no one better for me than you.” 

Adam’s smile melted into something more earnest when he saw Ronan’s face. “Hey,” he said, brushing his thumb against Ronan’s cheek and looking deep into his eyes. “Ronan.” His name from Adam’s lips was like hearing angels sing. “I’ve never questioned that.” He frowned. “You know you changed my life too, right?”

Then Ronan kissed Adam because he couldn’t stand not to for even a second longer. He wished he could freeze this moment forever. As the thought materialized, he felt something small and round in his hands. He pulled away from Adam and held the object up between them. 

“What is that?” Adam asked.

Ronan brought it closer to their faces. It was a small glass orb that glowed with ley line energy. “This moment.”

Adam held out his hand and Ronan handed the dream object to him. Adam closed his eyes and smiled again that bright, shining, beautiful smile. “You are such a sap, Ronan Lynch.”

“It's all your fucking fault, Parrish.” And then Adam kissed him again and all that existed was Adam’s lips and Adam’s hands and Adam’s body. Everything else was a world away.

But all too soon, Ronan could feel Adam pulling back, pulling away. He leaned into Adam, preventing him from making space between them. This continued until Adam exclaimed “Ronan!” and pushed him back. “Opal and Johnny are on their way here.”

“But we were just getting to the good part. The brats can wait.”

“No, they won’t,” Adam said, but kissed him again. 

_Bam! Bam! Bam!_ “Ronan!” Opal’s voice came from the other side of the door. 

“Go away!” He yelled back, pulling Adam’s face toward him to kiss him again. 

“No!” she yelled back. “Don’t be an asshole!”

Adam pushed the covers off his head and sat up in bed. “Language,” Adam called out. “Come in, Opal.” Adam flicked his wrist and opened the door.

“Adam, Johnny keeps zapping me with the line!” Opal stood in the open doorway, arms crossed. Her hair was pulled up high, which made her look older than she was supposed to be. She would always be a young girl to Ronan. Behind her stood Johnny, who was a full foot shorter than her. He only realized how much Opal had grown since he had dreamt her when she was in the vicinity of other children. 

“She kept changing the channel on me!” Johnny pouted.

Ronan groaned at the complaint, covering his head with a pillow.

“Johnny,” Adam said. “Do you remember what we said about using the line energy?”

Ronan looked out at the two children from under his protective barrier. The boy nodded, eyes diverted to the floor. “Don’t use it to hurt others.”

“Right,” Adam agreed. “And Opal, Liz is going to come back and get Johnny tomorrow. In the meantime, can you try to be nice to our guest?”

“Fine,” she huffed. 

“How about you go downstairs and I’ll come down in a few minutes to make you breakfast?”

Johnny finally perked up. “Gansey is already making some! It’s blueberry pancakes!”

“Then why didn’t you ask him to help you?” Ronan asked, his voice muffled a bit by the pillow.

Opal shrugged. “Blue said you were the patriarch of the house, so you could deal with it.”

Ronan threw the pillow across the room. “Thanks a lot, Sargent!” He yelled, hoping she could hear. “She’s never going to let me live that fucking comment down.”

“All right, you motley crue,” Gansey’s voice echoed up the stairs. “Breakfast is ready!” The kids both squealed and immediately ran down the stairs. 

“Pancakes!” Matthew yelled out as he ran past their open bedroom door. 

Adam had gotten out of bed and started getting dressed. “Can’t we just stay here for a little while longer?” Ronan groaned. 

“I’ve got work to do and you have a class in an hour,” Adam said as he pulled on his shoes. “You can’t be late, _Professor._ ”

“God, it sounds sexy when you say that,” Ronan said, edging himself closer to Adam. 

“Well, hold that thought until tonight,” Adam whispered and he leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. “I’ve got work to do!” He called out in a sing song voice as he followed the others down the stairs. 

“I live with an army of assholes,” Ronan said to himself as he went downstairs to join them.

“Hello, sleeping beauties!” Blue greeted them from the kitchen island, yogurt spoon hanging out of her mouth. 

“You are supposed to be my wingman, Sargent,” Ronan said, cuffing the back of her head. 

“Be nice, Ronan,” Gansey warned as he stacked a few more pancakes on the serving plate. “We’re leaving for Jordan soon. You won’t have us to kick around in a few hours.”

“Did Stace have another vision?” Adam asked. 

“Yep,” Blue said. “A handful of people in a refugee camp. Anne and Rhys are going to meet us there. We’re gonna need some additional influence and someone to make us some U.S. passports to get them back here.” Blue threw her spoon in the yogurt cup and placed it on the island. “You know Ronan, if you built a few more of the vortex archways we wouldn’t need to fly so much.”

“But then you’d be back here faster to bug the shit out of me.”

“Ronan!” Gansey shook his spatula at him.

Ronan grabbed a pancake and stuffed it in his mouth. “I’m just fucking around,” he said, mouth full. “The kids and I are working on it. It just takes time. What about the Order?” Ronan asked. “Any sign of them?”

Adam grabbed himself a coffee mug from the cupboard and poured himself a cup.“They’re kicking around,” Adam said. He tried to keep tabs on Margaret and the others with periodic readings. Losing her power stop Margaret from trying to convert others with magic to her cause. “Just be safe.”

“Safe as life.” Gansey put his arm around Adam. “We’ve got the line on our side. Besides we’ve done this dozens of times now.”

A ringing bell echoed from the porch. Laughs and stomping feet came bustling into the house: the children of magic who had come there for shelter and guidance. The Barns had become home to all those magicians who didn’t have one. It was Adam’s idea. Johnny, the boy from Maine whose mother had been terrified of her son, was their first ward. Johnny had visited them one summer and learned about his abilities. His mother had grown to appreciate how special he was once she had met others like him. And there were countless others like him that they were connected to now that all magic was awake. 

They had found five other Greywarens since that day, three of whom were children fearful of what they were. Ronan was determined to make sure these kids would never feel alone the way he had. 

As the world became more and more aware of magic, it had become extremely important that those in power throughout the world were on their side. More people naturally connected to the line energy now that it was all active. But many people without magic also wanted it. Excalibur allowed all of its Knights to create that connection—or to sever it, which is what they had done with Margaret. 

But it was a risky venture, dealing with access to magic. Mr. Gray and Professor Solis had taken the lead, hoping to build their coalition. 

“Psychometry class starts in ten minutes children,” Calla called through the front door. “We’ll be out on the south lawn today. Tardiness will not be tolerated!” 

Ronan finished his breakfast and headed to the front porch. Outside, Calla was walking to the south with a group of ten teenagers. Henry was running past, going to rattle the late sleepers in the Red barn that they had converted into a dormitory. Mr. Gray was on the side lawn with Matthew and another group of students, showing them self-defense moves. 

Johnny and Opal burst through the doorway to follow Calla. Blue, Gansey and Adam joined him on the front porch, surveying all they had built. The possibility of war would always loom when this much power was a stake, but when it did, they would all be ready. 

They were knights. They were protectors of all magic. They were kings.

***********


End file.
